Begin with everything you can remember....
   ---------------------------------------
 
 	the sounds of running footsteps
 	smells of rain-cleared air
 	a jumble of family around the dinner table
 	your first metal lunchbox
 	handing your heart to someone else
 	jumping from an airborne swing
 
 	pile these in the middle of the floor
 	savor each one, then let them run together
 	slowly push and mold, bend and form
 	carve occasional stepping stones
 	build the platform higher
 	until it rises out of your sight
 
 	then begin to climb
 
 		      -acm  (4/98)