Ode to childhood

'The child is father of the man; 
And I could wish my days to be 
Bound each to each by natural piety. '
(Wordsworth, "My Heart Leaps Up") 

There had been a time
Whence everything came with a shine,

The river ( by which we spent most of our life both young  and new,)
The trees standing quiet ( like angels on two flanks of the avenue,)
The ponds ( where we spent many hours chasing tadpoles with sticks)
The playgrounds ( where we played  till our sweat with dirt got mixed,)

They all came with wonders and awe
They all filled us  with joy for we gathered
Love and kindness from what we saw,

We were then mere children left at the mercy of nature,
We lived neither in past nor in future,
We lived, ( as children were we) on the present,
We discovered how the flowers bloomed with scent
And how fruits hung from some trees in summer
How just at dusk, from fields with cows, returned the farmers,
How the lanterns ( made clean by mother) shone bright
How the candles made shadows on our books at night,

We watched grasshoppers' jumps too,
We ran barefeet on moist lands touching dews,
We watched the sky at night lying on the ground,
How we different stars and constellations found,

Then there were hours of listening to
Bedtime stories from uncle
Who had always something to tell,
Stories of Princes and kings
Story of the likes of ' Rumpelstiltskin' -
The miller's daughter was how saved
By that gifted little imp, from being executed
By the King who wanted gold and more of gold,
How we also made journeys with Hercules The Bold,

Much later when we learnt to read and write
How we found our school , a kindergarten,
A place for all our mirth and delight,
There how we spent many hours in
Playing and singing and dancing,
Even doing ' hiding and seeking'
Behind those columns of trees,
Eucalyptus and deodars some,
How we had then lived really awesome!