I would go back to the day I heard her laugh, our fingers entwined.
She would stay on the swing, I would lay in the grass.
The stars would dance, sparkle in the night sky.
I would steal an innocent peek as her dress swayed in the wind.
She would pull it back down with a rosy blush and look away.
And this moment would replay.

The second time would be my mother’s last breath.
I would tell her it all.
Cry on her arm, without words stuck in my mouth.
I would gently hold her hand and say “it’s all ok”.
And she would close her eyes and smile.
My heart would sting.
I’d whisper to myself “Never again”.

The third would be all moments after love.
The gentle warmness, the breath, the curling of her toes.
I have no words to describe what I felt.
It was like home. Safe.
And the next morning, the smell of the coffee that invaded my nose.
Her lips tasted like this-
Like innocence mixed with spice and need.
It was perfect. Our own little world.
The time machine whined. Again, I would say.
So the moment she left, would never see day.

It would eventually break. Send me back into an unknown time.
And the fourth and the last…
A door-bell filled the air, I turned around to see half a hundred kids running my way.
One of them stopped by me, her eyes sparkly blue.
Brown hair in a braid, a missing tooth.
-Where is Mommy?- She asked, smiling like a girl I recalled.
-Home. – I answered, holding her hand.
Never would I touch that machine again…