The Playground
Of lost children...
She whispered to the empty swings at night,
Where tiny hands once held the chains so tight…
Her student with the gap-toothed, dimpled grin,
Who'd never finish what she'd just begin.
"Show me her future," begged the autumn air,
The Empress heard and granted vision's snare~
"Behold the woman she will never be."
The playground filled with phantom children's glee,
She watched her grow through seasons yet to come…
First dance, first love, till life's last setting sun.
But ghosts can't live or laugh or breathe,
The rusted slide where innocence lies sleeping,
Forever five, forever weeping.
Now every recess, teacher sits alone,
Among the phantom future she has sown…
The swings move gently in the evening breeze,
While tiny voices whisper through the trees.
Some treasures cost more than the heart can hold,
Love becomes a story never told.