first stream

You lapped the water from the stream
For the first time, in this new time,
Shining in the lemon sun
Among the leaves in waiting.
 
Once, twice, three times,
I saw you skirt the water’s edge,
Prance against the sparkling flow,
Crane your neck to taste the stones.
 
I wanted you to drink for me
The things I felt so long ago
To lap them up, so once again
I could be lithe, without thinking.
 
On watching a young puppy taste the fresh water from a mountain stream for the first time.