The swings and slides of my childhood
All lined up in a row.
The memories we made here
When we laughed here and played here
I'll be sure to take when I go.

Back then I was only a child.
I sit writing now seventeen.
And in these long years
I've grown with my peers
Into a young woman with dreams.

And though I'll shortly be parting
To find what must always be found,
I'll look back and smile
Every once in a while
To the days out on the playground.

so quick to go and trust them
so easy to deceive
the pain she bears
as one who wears
emotions on her sleeve

so hopeful for the future
so desperate to believe
he's not the same
not just a game
those emotions on her sleeve

so ready for commitment
so, she's a bit naive
too young to know
she shouldn't show
the emotions on her sleeve

so quickly they surround her
so fast they turn to leave
too much she cares
the girl who wears
her emotions on her sleeve

That night it came to be perfection
A teenaged rebel in the dark
Something new, a strange direction
Provided by a single spark

A feeling foreign gaining power
That pulsing in rejoicing veins
Growing stronger by the hour
Neither crazy or quite sane

Memories born inside a heart
Another person fading fast
Undying devotion from the start
Releasing white grip on the past

Music blaring in my ears.
Kept it playing all these years.
Blocking out the petty pain.
The only thing that keeps me sane.

A steady bomb, time ticks away.
But with my music, I'm okay.
It brings me sunshine in the rain.
The only thing that keeps me sane.

So long I have searched
To find a way out.
To see a new face,
To drive a new route.

Far too familiar
With this town that I know.
I craved air to breathe,
And so I must go.

Now It's fading away
In a cloud of exhaust,
But instead of relief,
I only feel lost.

Goodbye to the memories
And all I have learned.
This is not what I thought.
The tables have turned.

I'll steal a glance back
And wave one last time.
It ended so quickly;
No reason, no rhyme.

I thought what I wanted
Was more room to grow,
But the question will haunt me:
Is it time to let go?