When I Was a Child, a Poem by Sandra Rokooff-Lizut

When I Was a Child
by Sandra Rokooff-Lizut

I encountered
a potato tabernacle
hewn in rock
beneath a red madrone
Daydream dwelling
Sacred place
A lichen-covered cave

Sunshine streamed sweet citrus through its seams

I loved to tip-toe
slowly round
that church of mine
Toe-taps clicked
like abacas ticks
Outstretched arms
preparing to float free

I’m not only flooded with such memories now---
I hear more rushing down the hill to greet me while I sleep

Sandra Rokoff-Lizut, retired educator and children’s book author (published by Macmillan, Holt Reinhart & Winston, and Hallmark Inc.), is currently both a printmaker and poet. She is a member of Oregon Poetry Association, Mary’s Peak Poets, Poetic License, Gertrude’s, and a weekly writing salon. Rokoff-Lizut volunteers, by teaching poetry to middle-schoolers, at the Boys and Girls Club in Corvallis, Oregon. She also studies poetry Oregon State University. Previous publications include Illya’s Honey, The Bicycle Review, Wilderness House Review, The Penwood Review, and Wild Goose Poetry Review.

Copyright 2014, © Sandra Rokoff-Lizut. This work is protected under the U.S. copyright laws. It may not be reproduced, reprinted, reused, or altered without the expressed written permission of the author.