The Landmarks Of My Youth

A Poem by Tay

I've lived here all my life
I know all the landmarks
Yet somehow
I see them still
As the landmarks of my childhood
The blockbuster on the corner
Though it has long since
Become another shop
Shall always be 
The blockbuster on the corner 
I return 
To places I have tread
And expect
To still see my footprint
There
Forgetting the many footprints
That have obscured mine
Expecting a clear print
Where now there is only
A memory
These landmarks of my youth
The parks
The river
The bushes cut away
Like cuts against my flesh
Even the street I grew up in
No matter how
Child like I am
The time keeps passing
And the places do not remain
The abandoned house 
The one I assured myself
Was haunted
Despite never 
Having set foot on its grounds
My thoughts
The only evidence 
Of my conviction
I watch
As the overgrown 
Vegetation
Disappears
I hold on
To these places
And let them
Haunt me still
They are shadows
In my mind
As I once more
Walk
Where I once did
This journey is constant
A look at a past
Memories I may not wish 
To remember
Yet they hold on to me
As I hold on to 
Them