Like the surprise of a sudden summer shower
I am swiftly overtaken by the yearning,
tinged with sadness,
for that time of youth and love and innocence and passion.

It spills over me as Pandora plays a song that sends me back:

The dashboard’s radio was the only light as we kissed
with unencumbered heat in his tiny car that always
smelled of dirt, oil and the mixture of sandalwood, leather
and patchouli that was his cologne.

It’s not the boy I miss,
he proved untrustworthy as boys often do,
it’s me that I miss …
The me that lacked maturity, responsibility.
The me who had yet to know true disappointment.
The me who believed in fairy tales and happy endings,
even if the knight wore 501’s and a t-shirt
emblazoned with Greek letters.

The song carries me to the place
that rests somewhere just below my heart,
chained and bound through the years.
And even as I pen this moment
with hands that prove my years,
I can feel the girl inside who lived and loved,
unbridled by adulthood.

Oh, Pandora, you have opened the box …