Everything I once loved
Became everything I once lost
My skin soaking up the rays of sun
My long legs resting in the grass
The rosebud tea on my lips
The essays always nearly finished
The scent of Jasmine lingering
Charlotte’s favourite lines crept in
Wendy hopping from the porch
The dragonflies scaring my mum
Back into the cool shade of the kitchen
Her sandals on the marble stones
Everything I once loved
Became everything I once lost
The neighbours gymnasium debates so witty
Marie-Julie complaining about French cheese
My dad bathing the Afghan hound
Brushing and trimming her wavy hair
Until she started resembling John Lennon
Lounging on our couch with her black snout
Mikey entering with his eighties fringe
‘To those who are about to rock we salute you’
Written kisses from a group of stoned friends
A big birthday card for my sixteenth get together
Everything I once loved
Became everything I once lost
Always playing my music too loud after school
Dancing while I had homework to do
Hot chocolate from my Hermione mug
Gulping down bowls of popcorn and staying slim
Waiting on Wednesdays for Everwood episodes to begin
Listening to my maths tutor and bravely nodding
Everything I once loved
Became everything I once lost
The golden Christmas glitter on my face
My grandma’s cheeky smile as we played board games
My parents protesting on the doorstep
Against my (lack of) clothes right before I left
For dinner at the old restaurant with Juliette
The girls in Vampire Diaries dressed like that
Everything I once loved
Became everything I once lost
Upset with my parents for not adding (sweet) Caroline
To the list of names on our birth certificates
The neighbours trying to cut the hedge
But when they pointed a knife at my dad
My mum almost threw a brick through their door ( *my dad caught it)
And the ivy grew even more wildly after that
Everything I once loved
Became everything I once lost
Nina’s debut about family dynamics and growing up
My mother sipping wine and cracking walnuts
How the wooden Shiva secretly waved
My Waterhouse art phase while the bills had to be paid
The Persian rugs decorating the walls
The diffuser never camouflaging the scent of cigars
The summer I spent in a plain white T-shirt
The whippet pup eagerly digging with her paws
Happily swinging my dad’s purple violets into the air
Wagging her golden tail with my dad chasing her
Everything I once loved
Became everything I once lost
That house where everyone walked around
With long whiskers and crooked smiles
Where I angrily plucked my eyebrows
Where I took my barbies with me to the bathtub
Where I jumped so high on the trampoline everyone fell off
Where I had tons of clothes but nothing to wear
Slamming doors and stomping my feet on the stairs
Where I spread soapy clouds of Glow by J-LO
Where I drank the neighbours afternoon tea because I forgot my keys
Where the Russian dictator got drowned out by the Lalalá of my Furby
Where I sneaked out while my mum listened to the old lady Nelly
Staying up all night and nesting in the broad daylight
Where the alarm clock took the shape of a big red cat
Staring at me with yellow eyes to get me out of bed
That house is not my home anymore
And sometimes I wonder if my youth was just a splashed out nineties dream
But the old willow is still there