Growing Up

do you remember
when sixteen was ages away
and the allure
of that old chest,
filled with frilly hand-me-downs
wasn't something to be ashamed of?

do you remember
when you looked up to the 'big girls'
and when
lacey underwear
wasn't known to us?

do you remember
the bliss of no drama,
when boys had cooties,
and you would run through dandelion fields
away from them?

do you remember
when you didn't care
what you wore or how you looked
so long as it didn't keep you from being outside?

do you remember
the innocence of your childhood?
do you remember
the joy, the friends and all the skinned knees?

do you remember?
will you remember?
can you remember?