Something Precious

Everything worth keeping always finds its way back somehow

And though sometimes we don’t realize it until we need it most,

Nothing is ever truly lost.

I always thought that the days when I used to tree-climb were gone,

Lost forever to the  cruel, merciless passing of time.

But now I know better,

My memories are as firmly rooted in the soil I walk on as the trees I used to dance on.

Every day my experiences are anchored farther into the ground, never-changing.

The gentle chill of October wind,

Not a force of nature; but a friendly, unremembered stranger,

Reminding me of childhood autumns, drowned deeply in nostalgia.

The world I once lived in is no farther away

Than the raindrops of dear, long-forgotten spring days

The people we meet live on in our hearts,

Their spirit remains, under lock and key,

Waiting for us to open up again.

I am a flightless bird, staring up at the sky,

The entire world lost to me,

But now I realize that the sky was still there, blue as before.

And though, I might never soar across it again,

I can still feel the sun on my back, the wind under my wings;

And though hazy as a dream, I still remember

What is was like to fly.

I’ll never forget this place, no matter how far I am,

Because to me, it still tastes like warm apple cider and hot cocoa;

It still smells like before the rainstorm and after the rainbow;

It still feels like late winter snow and early summer heat;

It still sounds like loud tone-deaf singing and whispered bedtime fairytales;

It still looks like my house on the corner, my tree in the ground.

And a breath of fresh air never helped anyone as much as it did me,

Because now I know that the air I breathe is the same as before: crisp autumn chill, white winter frost, humid spring sparkle, and fiery summer sincerity

And I’ll always be home,

Here in my heart,

Where I never lose anything worth knowing.