when i grow up

“when i grow up” 

i know this education comes 

with more than a small fee

but now i know when i grow up

i want to be a hippie

with long gold hair that glows at dusk

sometimes in braids, but mostly waves

that crash down all my back

stranger to a comb

a tangled tress, a mangled mess

where wildflowers make their home

with a white cotton dress

that touches my toes, it flutters and flows

in the wind like it never left the clothesline

beside the patchwork quilt for picnics

in the meadow under the old oak tree

with a smile made of sun beams that stretch

so freely that the crow leaves his footprints

on the edges of my eyelids as he peers over to see 

what treasure lies behind those eyes

and with a voice that sounds like springtime

quiet and warm as the sun on your skin

after a hard winter

it floats on the wind like a lark

like David and his harp

it brings healing to the hurt

i will roam and wander countrysides

through garden rows of grass grown tall

i will hold the hand of the old man and the little girl

over the rocking chair and a pot of tea

he will teach me how to suffer 

she will teach me how to laugh

and together these will make a harmony

a song that only the free can sing

when i grow up i want to be 

a wild little angel 

hippie

jlf.