Imaginary Friends and Invisible Beaches

She was your entire childhood,

six years condensed into one being.

Like the sandcastles you used to make together,

ground packed tightly into walls

spanning the width of your world.

In your mind these solid walls withstood the blows of titans.

Now the waves of time have cleansed the beach of untidy fantasies.

You reach for memories but raise 

a fistful of fine sand.

She was but a flickering light,

a faulty lighthouse in the darkness 

of childhood ignorance.

Ignorance is bliss, they whisper,

and the truth resonates in your bones,

For in following her unreliable light you have never known fear.

Now your world is too bright to hide the illusions.

You catch the light of her distant star but get 

blinded by your own brilliance.

She was a footprint in the golden sand,

the path you trust to bring you back home.

Like the old games you used to play with each other;

she, the leader and you, the unwavering devotee.

Into her imprints you poured your faith

and felt the comfort of her warm embrace

But now your feet no longer fit in her footprints.

You try to remember her path but get

lost without her guiding hand.

She was a false memory,

but why can you never forget her?

You feel remnants of the beach stuck

to your skin, sand that cannot be brushed off

As the sun rises and turns the ground golden,

you close your eyes and feel

the shape of the castle on the shores of your mind