Take him walking on the land that was.
Point out where you climbed the pine
with branches far enough apart
for you to wend your way through needles
and never mind the sticky sap.
Talk of birds, how you had learned
their different songs and how they helped
to make you feel you were alive
and might grow wings, might fly.
Explain how earthworms turned back dirt
to even better soil for gardens.
Gardens? Yes, where people grew good food
and gathered it in woven baskets
to cook in their homes with love.
Murmur about what used to be a mountain.
Describe how sky shone clearest blue
above a lake, above a forest.
And when you reach the place you ran
through grass and flowers, your feet bare,
try not to weep when he cannot believe
there once were butterflies.