THE CHILDREN

I think a lot about children, comparing my past to their future. Was my time better?

So much has changed. I played marbles in the dirt. Tied strings to June bugs and caught lightning bugs in mason jars. I tied playing cards to the spokes on my bicycle, buzzed down the street and stayed out past dark until my parents forced me inside.

No one does these things anymore.

Tomorrow’s kids will say it’s too hot to play outside. They’ll say we stole their future.