It Once Belonged To Me

If I look through my window
I can see the world outside
Where children play and workers work
And lovers love and chide.
A world where trees have leaves of green
And sky has clouds of white,
A world whose day is lit by sun
And then by moon at night.
A world I see behind the glass
A world that seems so true
A world that once belonged to me
But now belongs to you.

And if you hear me speaking
Of the times that were before
Of ‘yesteryear’, the ‘good old days’
And even ‘days of yore’,
Then please don’t you remind me
That those times have long since fled.
To me, they are as much today
As in that history book you read.
The sands of time have drifted by
And drifted right past me,
So much has changed, but I’m the same
Beneath the skin you see.

So when I get to sit outside,
My moment in the sun,
You’ll understand if I don’t stand
That I can’t walk or run.
I used to storm the barricades
Then dance until the dawn,
I let my lips be kissed so much
But left them all lovelorn.
I love the world with all my heart
My world, when it was new,
A world that once belonged to me
But now belongs to you.

E.M. Swift-Hook