Close Enough

If I leave it long enough

It will go

If I believe long enough

I can grow

Back to being young again

A child sweet and warm

Not yet gone

What’s good survives

There for my return

Seems so long ago

And I feel so old

But not old enough

To escape that need for love

If I leave it longer

It will go

This time I know

I can reach up and touch

A turning point in life

’s arrived

I can take the road before

Or stall.

I can take a dive:

Swim back again to shore

Not so long ago

I felt the waves warm

Sunlight on my back

Sand between my toes

I remember good things

What’s good remains

Not so far past

That I can’t

Reach out and hold it

In one hand

If I leave it long enough

It will go

But it’s still there

Close enough

I feel it where I stand

Head above the water

If I can

I’ll reach back then

Touch those things

I since let falter

Close enough to touch

Seems so long ago

But it’s still there.

© Martin Slidel 2018