I Lost My Young Days

When

I thought Q-tips, true white

tar 'n' coal, true black

Eighteen seemed like yesterday

twenty-one, oh so far away

Smiling came easy

naivety, crowned breezy

Days dragged on

nights longingly held on

Tightly to that gritty sweet fleeting thin'

that pulsed with no rhythm--no rhyme, no reason

Felt free, felt true, full of glee, not blue

not even a little. 'cause well,... it was a thang

Of beauty, that tapped tears from your eyes

harvested pain from your heart

Fed your soul a soup of lies

Displayed you, its work of art

Though lost for life in ticktock's landfill

like Rosemary's 18K gold earring

It remains still

a purple red seedling

A thing of beauty gone to waste

a thing of beauty left in haste

A thing of beauty hanged, drawn and quartered

a thing of beauty life cornered

by Aimiende Negbenebor Sela©