Lost

You lost it.

Maybe you lost it long ago,

Playing in the street,

The hot sun burning the pavement beneath your toes,

Throwing rocks across boxes drawn on the ground,

But there are things you must do,

So the laughter fades.

Maybe you left it in the move,

Each new house carries weight in your heart,

Goodbyes becoming bricks,

Reinventing yourself until you no longer fit,

New personas taking hold,

The new more distant than the last.

Maybe you left it with him,

Your high school sweetheart who wasn’t so sweet,

The wedding bells he rang for you,

Then so quickly shattered for the glimpse of something new,

But then again you weren’t there,

So he took it and never fully gave it back.

Maybe you left it with your checklist,

All the guidelines you were given,

So you began to check them off,

But you don’t fit all the boxes,

With each blank left,

You lost a bit more.

They say you’ll get it back,

I am not so sure,

I lost it.