Tall Prairie Grass and Cardboard Boxes

Kids of ages five to ten
like to play at fantasy
now and again.
Cardboard boxes become planes and ships,
and by the medium of cardboard
we took trips.
By the magic of cardboard rugs
we flew over mountains and dove to the depths
in cardboard subs.
And when we just wanted to play around,
the neighborhood became our own
any-kind-of-town.
Through the tall prairie grass we blazed
trails to the West,
and on our journeys were amazed
to see some of the characters
we read about in books.
There were dreamers and mariners
that took us away in their ships.
There were grenadiers and pirates
with swords on their hips.
We made tunnels which went down
to the center of the earth.
And most likely that's where
my fiction was given birth.