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.
