If only time
would freeze,
Rewind.
Sand would inch up the hour glass,
and skies would never rain.
We'd drink in the air of a sweet, sweet past
because we'd know not of pain.

Take me back to a time
of warm apple sunlight soaking the air
back when life was pure and the world seemed fair.
And the air ignited with childhood's sweet magic
before I grew older and the world grew tragic.

Take me back to a time
when the whole world was mine
Beautiful,
and just one block wide.

Take me back to a time
Where sunlight poured in ribbons down our backs.
And the world wasn't much bigger than this cul-d-sac
When we were immune to the scratch of sand on our skin
and of melted ice cream dripping down our chins.

Take me back to a time
When I lived free of my own limitations
And in my eyes, my potential stretched
Just as far as my imagination.

Take me back to a time
When I could say what I felt,
Scream it from rooftops.
Before I was forced to swallow
every want and worry,
Close and confined where no one but me
Can hear them echo and taunt
Reverberating and scraping at the edges of my mind,
Desperate for a way out into the world,
Yearning to take flight
and escape their sorry prison.

Take me back to a time,
when my soul sang a melody
sweet enough to dance to,
light enough
to let me float away--
up, and into a sunset
melted red and gold.
Until desperation and rensentment
Would bear a burden heavy enough to weigh me down,
Rooting me firmly to a rotting ground.
Wishing for a way to leave,
Collapsing like a paper doll,
into my paper knees.

Take me away from this time,
Of walking on eggshells and wading through arguments
Of learning to disappear inside your skin
And hating people for not being able to see you.
Of treading lightly,
and hoping someone hears your silence.

But still,
Sand trickles down the hour glass.
No denying it, the sunset's passed.
No longer red and gold,
It and I have drained of light,
Leaving in it's wake a brand new sky,
empty,
dark, and cold.