An Avarice for Innocence

I have an avarice for innocence

  Especially for the innocence I’ve lost

Those moments that have both

  Slip away willingly

And

  Those ripped from me

Unjustly so.

They are so hard to retrieve

  The innocence gone

That I hoard the few remaining

  And

Weep on the off chance

  I get a precious one back.

So sweet, even if slightly altered.

I watch with a bit of envy,

  Those still rich with innocence, play.

I silently beg them to not be so careless with it

  To not let it so easily siphon away.

Knowing it is folly to speak the words aloud

  For such wisdom can only be gained

When it is almost too late.

When it is almost too late

  To have develop an avarice for innocence.