On that first warm day
when the air was eiderdown
and Missouri sunlight
beckoned, we would
kick off our Buster Browns
and ankle socks
to race across the lawn,
green velvet underfoot,
until we reached
the gravel drive
where our pace slowed,
feet pierced
by sharp-edged stones
and toes burned
by sidewalk. We winced
but would not retreat.
Feet must be toughened
for days of summer stretched
in an endless cloverchain
beneath a turquoise sky.