~City Lights...Once upon a Time~

Once upon a time,

The city lights sparkled in my soul…

I imagined all the twinkle

All the glitter

Being very real

But I got too close

And they burned right through

The tender lining of my very being

The twinkle only illuminated

The painful truth

Of the dreadful life

That was beaten down

Again and again

Every single day, day after day

The city lights

Were little more than an illusion

Little more than a lie.

Who knew you had to have a special fiber

Woven into your spirit

To withstand the atrocity

A special indoctrination

To know how to play the game

And once you really needed to

You didn’t want to anymore.

I chased rainbows

I dreamed dreams

And reached out

And when I could finally touch them

And even hold them in my hands

I grasped them for all I was worth…

And once I saw my worth

Underneath the city lights

I was sorry

I was lonesome

And I felt betrayed by my dreams.

Home? So far away.

Perhaps not even still there.

Home is where your heart is…

I know now, the city lights

Will never be a beacon

Calling me home.