Home Again

I once lived on this street.

The trees are much bigger now,

The pavement cracked and burrowed.

I can remember how

The colors of the houses

Used to blend into the hillsides,

Green and brown and yellow.

Things change by and by.

The apple trees are all gone,

And the pond at the end

Of old Mr. Fletchers place

Is now just

 an empty space.

The birds are still here

But they don’t sing as loud,

And Mr. Kincaid’s flag

Has flown away somehow.

Yeah, things change by and by.

Mrs. Bowen and her son Jackie

have long since moved away

And the only sign of the Swanson’s

Is the house where they used to stay.

The Jones and the Rice’s,

The Washington’s and Pauline Pence

Have all gone away,

As has each white picket fence.

Home is where the heart is

they say,

No matter how long you have

 been away,

But the ones I used to call my friends

Will never be back home again,

For they have taken their hearts away

From this place where once we played…

I am home again

or maybe not, for

 all those things

I never forgot

Are all different today

than

they used to be,

now little sprouts

have become big trees

and daffodils

grow where they please.

 Those I grew up with

once laughed and danced.

And moonlit nights

cast a trance,

 gentle breezes kissed the rain…

Oh if I could only,

 just once,

go Home again.