Druid Hill Park, Baltimore 1950

All summer
Dot and I
tumble
down
hills
laughing
to the rhymes
of lakes
taking pictures
of our knees
and the pulse
of tadpoles
turned frogs
the moment our bottoms
hit ground
and we bounce back up,
wave
to our parents
un-smiling
in trees
on top
of the steepest
hill.

-Esther Altshul Helfgott