When We Play Hide and Seek

When we play hide and seek
We go to the Park
Climbing over the north gate
Because the place gets locked up
After six o'clock

We don't have to ask a seeker
Because we know
Who that will be

Instead, we hug and split up
Each of us wondering
Who will be left
At the end of the night

I go right into the sandbox
Burying myself
Two feet deep
Beneath a three-tiered castle
Some child made that day

This is where I used to hide
But not so deep
Back when I had to breathe

By the trees near the south gate
I hear feet running towards me

No, no, no--don't bring him near me

But the feet disappear
Before they come any nearer

Sometimes he goes on foot
Sometimes he pulls you down
Sometimes he comes down on you
Like an eagle, talons extended
Ready to pull you back
To where you belong

There's splashing in the lake
Over by the east gate

Somebody tried swimming to the bottom
So he wouldn't find them there

But he can see clear through the water
And he likes to swim too

But he'll make splashing sounds
Long after he's taken you
So that one or two will come running
Thinking they can save the one
Who's already long gone

The last one stands on the west gate
No longer wishing
To play the game

She thinks she can fight him
And maybe she's right
Since all of us hide
And none of us fight

Maybe there'll be a new winner
Tonight

But as soon as he sees her
She turns into dust

Just a bit more
Than the ghost that she was

And now it's just you
That he's seeking now
So you dig, and you dig
Ten, twelve, fifteen feet down


And when you finally feel safe
You hear nothing at all
The rays of the sun
Are just starting to fall


But before the first beam of them
Can shine upon you
You feel breath on your shoulder
And hear--


'I found you.'