Poem: Paper Planes

See the world through a child’s eyes,
Past its dreary, dim disguise.
A land where wars are only fought,
With thumbs and conkers, as a sport.

Buttercups glow beneath your chin,
Daisy chains decorate everything.
Acorns smile in their hat-shells,
As fairies hide behind bluebells.

Running barefoot in the grass,
A taste of freedom felt at last.
Sailing boats across the pond.
Frogs leap from lily pads to abscond.

And when you gaze up at the sky,
There’s nothing but paper planes going by,
Wishes on the wing of a dandelion seed,
As helicopters spin from the sycamore tree.

Watch a heart-shaped cloud float by,
Amidst a rainbow, way up high.
Catch a leaf upon the wind,
A change of luck, it’s sure to bring.

For, when we see through a child’s eyes,
The world’s delights, we recognise.
Filled with all we could ever need,
As far as our imagination can concede.

Enough for everyone, but short of greed.

by Sylvia Villa (2025)