I muse on things from my past as we all do
Some random memory plays before my eyes
Like a film on a theater screen
Anything can bring it back
A smell, a sound, a feeling, a face
I walked in a town I knew well in my younger years
Younger by comparison to my current age
As I am yet young by many standards
And old beyond the face that the years have given me
I remembered a coffee shop I frequented
Not for the coffee, but for the tea and the ambiance
Passing its boarded windows, I regret not coming back
I recall a vintage restaurant, decorated in style
The laundromat in its place spoiled my appetite
Yet there on the corner, it still stands
The theater where I laughed, cried and spent much time
Trying to figure out where my life should be
Where I am today
Wandering amid memories and broken buildings
Trying to piece together some mental scrapbook
Of a time when life was simpler and not so cruel
When the most important thing I had to worry about
Was where my next ounce of herb was coming from
And what movie to see this Saturday night
I miss those times as I stand here watching people
Entering the theater, some young some old
Do they know that in even ten years' time
Their lives will be completely different
If not, you wouldn't catch me spoiling their evening
All good things and bad in time
Now all that's left to me is wonder and wander
Memory and loss, friends and strangers
Coffee shops and restaurants
And over there a book store
New and bustling
I wonder what's over there
Who is in there
I find my feet stepping in that direction
Before I can stop myself I'm through the door
And the first thing I hear in the back of my mind
Is my past self laughing hysterically.
 
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