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--
January 15th, 2026
by Gabriel Dall'Alba
Boys and girls
play in the yards,
in the streets and gardens.
They cry in their mother's arms
and plead for more childhood.
Boys and girls
break their toys,
play while broken.
They hear their father's sermon
and in autumn retreat from loneliness.
Boys and girls
discover themselves and at last
feel longing.
Boys and girls
lose the lap and the sermon
in the shelter of solitude.
They gain bills, broken hearts,
now swallow pills and drops of depression.
Those who survive now offer mother's lap,
father's sermon,
and never, ever, stop pleading
for more childhood.
About the Poet
Gabriel Dall'Alba resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Read the poet's biography and Wax Poetry and Art publications
on Gabriel Dall'Alba's Artist Page.
This poem is also featured in Comet #7, published in the Wax Poetry and Art Library.
Keywords: childhood, memories, melancholy, innocence
Previously published in Vancouver Poetry Magazine:
Killing Time
by Sophia Zhu
Vancouver Poetry Magazine is part of the Wax Poetry and Art Network.
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