My feet grew with the impressions
They helped to wear into
The concrete steps that led to
Adventure.

They progressed from following in
Larger footsteps to walking alone
As the place where everyone else
Felt like outsiders became
An unlikely home from home for me.

The sound of the trains behind
The houses across the road excited
My wandering heart and yet became
A lullaby whose melody I found
Nowhere else.

It was for a while the only place
I could just be myself and live
My own life. Supper at seven was
Not a constraint but a reassuring
Constant in a world I struggled
To comprehend.

It is no longer a part of my life,
And yet it still bears the marks
I made with adolescent shoes at
The beginning and end of days that
Brightened my darkest years.

12/04/2020

Posted on 12/05/2020
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