When day blurred to endless nights

The yearning for new days faded in sight

She coddled the teenage dream that thrived amid sunkissed skin 

Turned to angry patches of scorching red where the sun’s love had been

And along I-95 did the rusty engine wearily recite a road to her eternal bliss

Where her thoughts dissolved into what seemed of finger painted clouds 

amongst a brilliant blue abyss

Her polaroids preserved memories of the idolized summer dream

Smeared with drips of strawberry ice cream

But when she observed how the radiant, everlasting sun hastily retired to the glimmering moon

And how the crickets’ harmony echoed in tune

She coddled the trees that shed green 

And bore leaves that reflected the vibrancy of summer’s past

The season of spice that playfully teases smell had come at last

Now desolate streets, once bustling, broadcast through blankets of frostbitten concrete

She coddled dread and counting the days became obsolete

Her skin now kissed with the touch of a ghost

Where red only ran through her veins and cheeks at the bite of a wind’s boast

Yet she found warmth in watching how animals hastened to sleep through winter’s presence

They scrounged for food to bury or flew away from the brisk essence

And when the melodic sound of chirping and scurrying rang through her ear

She coddled the time of rebirth for the year

An age for new beginnings she cherished

The lingering blue feeling now perished

When flowers bloomed, she blossomed with