Where Did My Life Go To?

Where Did My Life Go To?

Tonight the headline breaks inside my chest,

no ink, no paper, no witness but me.

Where did my life go to, tell me plainly,

which turning stole the girl I used to be?

I see her running barefoot through green summers,

her laughter rising bright against the sky.

She did not count the cost of growing older,

she did not fear the word goodbye.

I see a bride with trembling hopeful fingers,

a promise shining softly in her eyes.

She thought that love would keep the roof from falling,

she never studied sorrow in disguise.

I see a mother standing in the doorway,

watching small shoes scatter down the hall.

Her arms were full, her heart was always open,

she never thought the house would grow so small.

Now silence sits beside me on the mattress,

it breathes the dust of photographs and years.

The clock declares its cold and steady verdict,

time is faithful only to our fears.

Where did my life go to, answer gently,

did it slip out with youth, with love, with grace?

Or is it folded in these weary hands,

lined deep within my weathered face?