In The Eyes of a
Grown-Up
Your Crocs slippers
crunches on the grass
that needs the haircut
of a snazzy prince.
An old song is replayed
multiple times
as familiar melodies
travel from your earphones
till you feel like
singing in this isolated place.
Your eyes shortly scan
around the area
like a security camera
spying at 360 degrees.
You will see a film
screen appearing in your head;
it shows a series of
flashbacks
that is hidden somewhere
in your memory for ages
like a lost treasure.
Your conscience will
scold you
for not remembering
those childhood times.
Good heavens! Don’t you
remember the colourful swings you used to sit on?
What about those skinny
wooden see-saws?
You had to push your
feet to give yourself a boost up in the air.
Or that giant round
structure where you liked to spin around like tops
with other kids who
smile at you like friends?
How could you ever
abandon those glimpses
when your mother stood
at a corner
watching you like a hawk
while sharing small
talks with neighbours?
And goodness gracious!
Where in the world is
that big metal slide?
You used to throw your
hands high like a monkey
as your body slid down
that shiny silver panel.
And not to mention that
incident
when you stood on top of
of the slide for half an hour or so
because you were scared
of a creature that was eyeing at you as dinner.
Was it a dog...or was it
a snake?
Oh! You were so
terrified you were crying for your mother
to leap up in midair
like Wonderwoman to carry you off.
It’s a pity that the
slide is gone…
You will feel an icy
breath crawling in your heart
like Narnia’s White
Queen’s voice slithering through your skin.
The playground itself is
untouched.
Every colour, every
single patch of ugly brown rust
are remained on the
structures.
The rainbow-painted toys
are so good to re-encounter,
but the atmosphere is as
dead as Scrooge’s demeanour.
Don’t you see?
Not even a single kid
was there to play!
Not even a hint of
movement was made!
You realize how fast the
clock ticks.
You realize how soon the
earth moves.
You wake up to see an
invisible barrier above you
protecting the
playground for the sake of yourself,
a girl who has grown up
and forget the times you
connect with this place.
Waves of nostalgia
swishes against you
as
your fingers hold onto the chains of a red swing.
You
sit on it, and you magically feel like a kid once more.
You
have visions of the mini-you
swinging
with a bunch of children,
drunken
with pleasure.
You
never know how long this place would last.
You
fear that your childhood stories will be erased from your journal
like
an eraser that is under a witch’s spell.
You
wish you could stay
but
Cogsworth the clock says “It’s time to go.”
Your
heavy feet sent you off the grass,
stepping
away from the barrier.
You
slowly turn your back.
Your
song is still playing
like
an endless hymn.
You
swear that you won’t forget this missing piece
that
is stolen from your puzzle in years.
One
last glance is all you need
and
you would never look back
the
pain of being in oblivion.
Author's Note: So I happened to pass by the playground I used to go when I was a kid and I decided to go there to take a look. Everything was still the same, except the slide which was taken away. This poem is basically about reflecting a piece of my memories, but also something we as humans need to know: we can't travel back to the past but we can only recall of what we did. We wish to have time machines, but we don't know what will happen if we revisit our past or change our past. The past is the past and we can only look ahead.
