I'm Worried That if I Go Outside the World will Collapse

Nostalgia

I never played hopscotch with my friends
Something about it made me nervous
But after school I'd hop on one foot
Then two
And we'd play in the creek
And we would take off our shoes to feel the mud squash between our toes
And we would find the empty carcasses of bats and mice and pet them gently before spreading them out in what we called a 'museum'
We didn't worry about disease
Because we were kids
There was never much that worried us
On the playground we'd gossip about who like-liked us and who we like-liked back
And at school we were cats and bears
At home we were sticky little children with too many words and not enough thought
And in bed we were happy
And safe
And warm
In bed we would dream of new games to play with our friends and what outfit to choose to get the most compliments
Now that I've lost it all
I think
That it's okay to live
in the past
If that's what gets you through
the present