There is a moment in time

Where I finally realize

I would not take it all back

All the bumps, bruises, scars, and marks

Have grown on me

Grown with me

Nostalgia is not a longing for the past

She is the child buried in my chest

Still smelling of creek water and woodland

I never outgrew her

She still stinks of sunscreen

She still licks her lips

And tastes salt

For her

I will still scrape my knees

And get paint under my nails

I will look in the mirror and see her

And realize

I don't want to go back

I want to bring her here

And she will smile back at me and ask

"Then why don't we play?"