Past Sleeping in Trees

The smell of bread brings me memories

Of a time when I would wake up and hop over the gate

The pan de sal down the street awaits

Nothing was open

Not even the sun had greeted the day

But the scent of the bread,

Always lured me awake

It brings my mind home, even today

It takes me beyond the memories of days long past

Reminding me of more embraces with which I’ve been blessed.

Even just walking down the street,

The sight of trees dancing in the breeze,

Brings me back to a time of ease.

A time with no worries of bills or jobs that make my heart and soul bleed,

My soul was free when I slept in the trees.

Before the phones and the stress of today,

Before I knew what has been taken away,

When my mind was free, and my soul could just be,

A time when I didn’t know that I wasn’t allowed to be carefree.

Before I came to the land of the free,

Before I found that they don’t like those like me,

I knew who I was and what was a genuine need.

I knew my friends and my family.

Life was full, with my father beside me

Before cancer took him and left us to see

How hard life is without his guiding hand.

How I long to go back to that time from then.

My dreams are filled with wishes galore

Of a time and place from before.

But then I wake to see my daughters’ faces.

And then I see that I’m in wonderful places.

Comfort to me, sometimes seems like a lost memory

But a simple hug can bring it back to me.

The love is true and strong

The days are filled with smiles and fun.

No more wishing for days long past.

Instead, I enjoy the present and do my best

To bring you a life of joy and love like what I had

In a time before we got lost in iPads.