What Was

I yearn for the mountain air of my youth

Before the tar of the city blackened my lungs

I remember the green grass slipping between my toes

The way my laughter echoed on the breeze

Before the cement bit into my flesh

and the frozen wind stung my cheeks.

I remember the song of birds in the trees

Their melody dancing around me

Before the florescent hum overwhelmed my senses

Setting the stage for the strain of the day.

I yearn for the days of my youth

long before I put this noose around my neck

When a smile was just a smile

and the face in the mirror smiled back.

Author’s Note:

Each day I find myself longing for the youth I could never afford to have. I had to be older. Had to be wiser. Fingers can be pointed, but at the end of the day this is a burden I put on myself.

Much like now.

I, like so many of you, have trapped myself in the corporate world. Every night I go to sleep dreaming of a better morning, only to be greeted by the same day as before.

How do you break the monotony of it all?

Do I focus on what could have been, or what could be? Or do I resign myself to where I am now.

It’s okay. I’m okay.

I just need a second to breath.