• I stand in the middle of the backyard.
    A place I had not stepped foot in for years
    Where I used to spend my childhood days.

    I remember the dream scape, once upon a time.
    Where the granite stone wall stood strong,
    Blocking out the modern world.
    The lawn was so green and soft
    And the flowers in the flower beds were wild and alive:
    Lilies, Birds of Paradise, Poppies, and Angel Wings,
    Red, Blue, Violet, Orange, and White.
    The sparkled goldfish swam in the glittering pond
    Of oriental design, with bamboo and miniature orchards.
    The trees were proud, with brightly colored leaves,
    Providing shade against the golden-glazed sun.
    The shadows danced playfully across the greenery
    Where we, my nephew and I,
    Were kids in a far away land.

    We were queens and kings of our domain,
    Holding court on our polished stone chairs.
    We were knights with mighty bamboo swords.
    Hunters finding the rare wild cat
    That at like stone near the steel cottages.
    We were protectors of our world.

    And now I stand here, years after my last voyage
    To find the years have not been kind.
    I now see the stone wall, which seems to have shrunk,
    Stained with mud, moss, and pesticide.
    The brown crisp leaves falling on dying grass,
    The dropping flowers in the graveyard of those before.
    The cat statue is faded and chipped near the rusting sheds
    And the moss filled pond has no fishes.
    Stale bamboos litter the dirt.
    A land forgotten in the years of adolescence
    And dreams brutally turned to reality,
    And I, jaded by society's whims, find myself in a lost wonderland.