Before Things Changed For Me…

I remember when things changed for me,
From wide-eyed child who could only see,
Songs playing through the wind-blown trees;
The butterflies dancing gently in the breeze,
Playing hide and seek and skinned up knees.

And then we learned to see the world,
Our ruby cheeks and blonded curls,
Those high school dances on Friday night;
The pretty girls danced in the bright spotlight,
While the rest of us stayed out of sight.

No Valentine’s dates would ever come,
No bikini-clad body lying in the sun,
No boys to walk by and stop and stare;
No pink ribbons to tie up in our hair,
No answers to an unheard prayer.

Those of us who know the pain,
Who feel the loss and not the gain,
When disappointment comes once more;
Each day passes by like the one before,
Our secrets kept locked up in a drawer.

Crying eyes will never see,
Happiness eluded will never be,
Back and forth between extremes;
Lonely nights and crying screams,
Nothing more than empty dreams.

Now I’m old with hair that’s gray,
Silent lips don’t have much to say,
Eyes that squint and do not see;
A world today that can never be,
The way before things changed for me.