Lost Youth, I see you in my mirror

Lost Youth, I see you in my mirror

I saw her face inside the glass,

Not mine, but something left behind,

A softer light, a careless laugh,

A life I never kept in line.

Her eyes were clear, untouched by time,

No weight of nights that would not sleep,

No shadows stitched into her skin,

No promises she could not keep.

I reached to hold that fading girl,

My fingers trembled, cold with doubt,

She turned away without a word,

As if she knew I sold her out.

The years had carved their silent marks,

Across my bones, across my breath,

Each choice a quiet theft of her,

Each day a step that tasted death.

Where did she go, that tender fire,

That danced before the world grew hard,

Did I betray her for this ache,

Or trade her cheap for something scarred.

The mirror wept a silver tear,

And cracked beneath the weight of truth,

For what is left when time is done,

But grief that wears the mask of youth.

I whispered low, please come back home,

But echoes only mocked my plea,

For youth is not a thing you lose,

It leaves when you stop being free.

And in that glass she faded slow,

A ghost I could not resurrect,

A life unlived, a soul undone,

A name I barely now respect.

I turned away, the room grew still,

The silence heavier than proof,

For once you see what time has taken,

You never stand again in youth.

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