{Poem 53}
Location
Do you remember the days on the swings?
When the wind rushed through golden curls
And you didn’t care about the boys or the girls
You were in your own little world
Still Dreaming
Hoping
Laughing
Back when you were happy
And your faith was like a child’s
You believed on a whim
Trusting what you heard
Back when you didn’t care if someone looked at you odd
Or thought that you were chubby
Annoying
Ugly
Because all you cared about was in that moment
The wind rushing through your hair
The pressure on your back whenever your Mommy
Or Daddy
Pushed you to the sky
The Pumping of your legs
And of course
The smile your wore because
You were young
You were adolescent
You were innocent
It all really begins to crumble
That undeniable faith
When you find out that
For the first years of your life
Your parents deceived you
With dreams of Leprechauns
Easter Bunnies
Santa
That foundation begins to crack
When your first tooth wiggles out
You trusted that tooth to help you chew
And when it leaves
It’s like you’ve been abandoned
Leaving you with nothing but
An uncomfortable gap
And the taste of metal
Tainting your bloody gums
Those childish memories begin to fade
When they are replaced by moments you strive to forget
Telling yourself you aren’t worth it
Hearing others call you useless
And your innocence is washed away
As you have been built on
A foundation of lies
Of judgments
Of sand
Do you remember the days on the swings?