Lost in the Storybook

A Poem

Photo by Gustavo Fring: https://www.pexels.com/photo/silhouettes-of-hugging-couple-standing-in-arch-in-darkness-4172868/

maybe you could call me fooled
by the daydreams cluttered
in my child’s mind
like a litter
of toys.

but the storybook
always sat,
flat open,
in my lap.

maybe you could say i grew up blessed
to know love in every room and way
from my parents’ nest
to the friends i kept —
but something was always missing.

the words called,
and i answered
as if they could unlock
the door to my heart.

maybe you might see me as a kindred spirit,
a hopeless romantic in rainbow clothes,
or perhaps you’d just see someone
struggling restlessly
at being human.

once upon a time
sounded like a promise
instead of a curse,
and i listened.

maybe you would look at me one day
and understand i tried my best
not to lose the threads,
red strings of…