I have learned to go back

I have learned to go back

I have learned to go back in time

To the pink striped sheets 

Wrapped around my small warm body

The light coming in slanted

Through the blinds

I enter my body as I wake up 

Slowly with a fear already 

Wedged deep in my chest

It is too quiet and I know 

I am too young

To be alone like this

I have learned to walk 

Across the scratched wooden floors

Towards the glass front door

Bare feet crossing the muddy yard

To the gravel road 

I watch my face crumple as 

I round the corner and see

Their figures in the distance

The crushing relief of realizing—

I have learned to go back to this gravel road

The school bus far away

My face bleary eyed

My family walking home, towards me

The panicked beat of my heart—

I am not alone

I am not alone

I am not alone

— olivia gwyn