If I think of you who travel far, with whimsy as your guide
I feel a tinge of jealousy much too strong to hide.
I wanted once to see the world as you must see it now
Youthful eyes enamored and released from pain somehow.

You seem so full of life and love and unadulterated glee
That I often stop and stare at the remains of what is me.
I could have been the one who climbed atop some far off peak
Finding in that foreign land the languid peace I seek.

A glance aside at those of us who plant our feet so strong
Is the limit of the time you give to those you feel are wrong
To stand in place and be content with dreams unrealized.
To stand in place and find lament behind unkempt disguise.

As you wander through the alleys of a world much too small
And you stop and stare and wonder at the beauty of it all,
I dream about the times I struggled just to stand outside
And imagine that I wasn’t bound by things I hadn’t tried.

With the changing tenor of your life a beacon to my soul
I resign myself to accolades that do not seem quite whole.
The pull of youthful vigor begs a promise I can’t keep
So I set down roots that grow too strong and quickly fall asleep.