Duck, duck, duck
Goose
If, if, if
When
Let’s circle and laugh,
Remembering friends
Skipping the ifs
‘cross rivers and lakes
Bundling us up
In mountain snow dreams
Adventuresome spirits
Living in when
Post Script:
This poem borrows the cadence of a childhood game to explore a quiet shift in perspective—from if, where we hesitate, to when, where we begin to trust life enough to step into it. The title carries a double meaning: remembering childhood while also remembering how to live in when rather than if.
Image: “Stone skimming – Patagonia – 9 Mar 2010”, Wikimedia Commons.
Primitive Joe 
