The Stars Were Ours

If I could fold the years like letters,

Tuck them deep inside my chest,

I’d find a street where summer whispered,

And time sat still at our behest.

A boy next door, a friend in laughter,

On a parallel little lane,

We’d race the wind 'til it gave in,

And never once outrun the rain.

My sister and I, with hearts wide open,

On Grandma’s bench of hand made wood,

Cards in hand and jokes unspoken;

We didn’t need to, all was understood.

Midnight giggles down the gravel,

Crickets humming quiet tunes,

The stars leaned low to watch us marvel

At the magic only found in Junes.

Oh, back when the stars were ours,

When the world was just a street or two,

And everything new had a heartbeat,

And every moment somehow knew;

We’d never get to live it all again.

A kiss behind the fence at evening,

Awkward, sudden, sweet, and true,

First cigarette, the smoke still clinging,

As if the sky was watching too.

First fight with classmate over nothing,

First crush that carved a name in air;

All the little fires of becoming,

Before we knew that time ain't fair.

The paint peels back on the doors I knew,

The smiles I loved all faded too.

And those who stayed; I know their face,

But in their eyes I see no place...

No place for the boy I used to be,

Running wild, running free.

Oh, back when the stars were ours,

When the world was just a street or two,

And everything new had a heartbeat,

And every moment somehow knew;

We’d never get to live it all again.

I left that world, crossed the ocean wide,

But I still carry it deep inside;

All the firsts I had, the hearts I knew,

Still live in the light of that avenue.

If memories could call me home,

I’d follow every cobblestone.

To laughter, love, and youthful grace,

To Grandma’s bench; my sacred place.

Though time moves on and people part,

That little town still owns my heart.

Oh, back when the stars were ours,

When the world was just a street or two,

And everything new had a heartbeat,

And every moment somehow knew;

We’d never get to live it all again.