By D. R. DiFrancesco

~

I found a place,

Deep inside me,

Warm and comforting,

Something I thought I’d lost.

~

So many years ago,

Innocence shielded me,

Harbored my emotions,

Enveloped me in the simplicity of youth.

~

Age changed,

I let my gentility drift off,

Replacing it with cynicism,

Spoiling the wonder of me.

~

The world didn’t change,

It is still just as wondrous,

Instead it was me that was corrupted,

My skepticism and pessimism changed my view.

~

Looking for the worst,

My fellow man could not be trusted,

Conniving and deceitful by nature,

I lost sight of the decent.

~

My perception flawed,

Skewed by life experience,

Taken as the standard bearer,

Distorting my future interactions.

~

Mistrust instills bitterness,

Fear of the worst is all consuming,

Depression and anxiety take root,

Trapping ugliness inside.

~

Tired of the sadness,

No longer recognizable,

It was not me in the mirror,

Rather a shell of who I was.

~

With eyes wide,

I looked deep,

Straining to find the innocent me,

Drawn to tears by the time I’d lost.

~

There is joy in letting go,

Finding good in what surrounds me,

Purging the cynic and skeptic,

Anchors that weighed me down.

~

I have found that place,

Pleasing to my body and soul,

Lost so many years ago,

To the ravages of maturity.

Image credit: citizenshift.org