My throat caught.
My heart stopped.
Hot tears sprung from my eyes,
Weeds grew on my abandoned childhood home.
My baby blue slide cracked down the middle.
My monkey bars hung like limp limbs.
Memories flooded my mind in swarms
Touching the gravel, I remember.

I remember my friends,
My park,
My childhood,
I remember sweltering summer picnics with strangers I barely knew.
I remember loving open arms and that loving shoulder to cry on.
I remember my hair being whipped around my face as my legs pumped on the swing.
I remember my best friend, who I only had just met

Now my swing is rusted.
Now my grass is bare.
Now my friend’s laughter doesn’t hang in the air.
After ten years, I thought it wouldn’t be there,
Only by accident did I see my childhood sanctuary.

I sat down on the morning grass, the smell of fresh rain hung in the air
Dew stuck to my new jeans
Staring at the sky, I sighed.
The white clouds mixed with the breathtaking blue sky.

It looked just as I remembered
It looked like it did when I was ten.
If only I could have stopped time for just a second.
Maybe I would have had a few more seconds with my second home.