Traces Of My Footsteps Poem by Efren Petalver Carranza

My youth is what I no longer possess
On this body, some genes didn’t exist
Though he left me now with this wrinkled skin
It’s his young shadow that shines within
Like a timid star afar from the moonlight spot
Wherein their distance is the aisle of my childhood:

For I grow up not knowing how
Sweet to have a mother dear
A rugged toy to hold and cherish
Or a best friend who truly cares

Sweat and tears, pain and sorrow
I struggled for who I’d become
I build my dreams, my family, my goal
Still my destiny is unknown

Now, as I get closer and closer to the abbreviations of life
My fear of aging or dying is my worst enemy
Traces of my footsteps along the brink of my boyhood
Brought me nowhere but here… alone… still