This is one of my longest poems. It tells a story about an adventure I took one day back when I was a teenager. I don't think it's some of my better writing, but maybe you may find it enjoyable.

 

A Memory Lost in Time

I’ve reached the age
Where many years have passed me by.
Lost memories have become buried
Mixed in the years lost by time.

Every so often, unexpected like.
Something in my day will trigger a buried memory.
A memory I haven’t thought of in forever….
Life will stop and my yesterday becomes today.

My day begins like any normal fall day.
Nothing different from the others before.
But it's a combination of things mixed perfectly
That will trigger my heart to skip and my spirit to draw.

I was a young teen, bored by the
Simplicity of small town life.
I would gather with others like myself
Seeking adventure in our mountain hikes.

Walks that take us miles from home
Into far-off woods for real adventures.
Maybe a stream or river we may follow.
Looking for a place no one has been.

The air is cool…. crisp with a hint of a musty scent.
The trees sway back and forth in the wind
Blowing around drying leaves of yellow, gold and red.
Swirling around my feet as we run through the fields.

The warmth of the sun is playing hiding seek.
With a cluster of gray fat clouds blowing in the wind.
Rushing overhead leaving me in a dream state.
Of a reality shifted by time and space.

Walking, laughing without a care,
We came to an old farmhouse on a hill.
It seems no one had been there in many years.
The house looked so lonely at a distance.

Somewhat fearful, but excitement hung in the air.
We took off running through the tall grass,
Eager to explore an old abandon house
With a barn out in no-where land.

The real fears of life are buried in the innocence.
It’s that taste of freedom and adventure
Giving way to my memory of that day.
This excitement I can feel in my old age.

We stepped up on the wooden porch
Worn and dry from decades of sun.
Opened the screen door with no screen
Stepped over glass from the broken door.

I can feel my heart quicken and my breath I hold.
As I stepped over the thresh hole
The afternoon sun disappearing and
Scary monster wall shadows appear.

The four of us split toward different rooms.
Stepping over broken furniture, torn books and
Trash that covers much of the downstairs floor.
I can’t help and wonder what has been here before.

The shadows are getting bigger as the evening wears.
There’s a new sense of apprehension in the thick air.
Someone or something I feel is watching.
With a growing fear I move elsewhere.

I feel the house coming to life with the setting sun.
As I walk up the crooked stairs to the upper floors above
I notice I am alone and wondering where the others.
With absolute silence, a creepy feel hangs in the air.

The fear bubble in the pit of my stomach intense.
As a slight cold puff of air brushes past my right ear.
I am so out of here and down the stairs I flee.
Wondering what that was that draws my panic to fear.

Hitting the kitchen doorway
I run for the barn like it was my life.
Rushing in short of breath and pale white.
No one seemed to notice.

I went on like nothing happen
Melting in to the conversation.
Saying…” Darkness is quickly falling."                                                                                                              Still shaken by a ghostly apparition.  

The dark was coming quickly,
And we were far from home.
No one wants to be in the woods at night.
Where unknown creatures roam.
 
I know this must sound strange.
But I could feel the house watching
As we ran through the field.
That uneasiness one gets is unnerving.

I love these little splits in memory.
When my mind goes back,
Triggered unexpectedly
Reliving a memory stuck in time.