Youth

I was so young then.
as the students roll in for university,
I see they are so young, so full of life,
so much potential.
I used to be so young, dodging bullets along a path
that had no signposts, no trampoline helping me to
bounce back from a fall.
I had some wits, a smile and a little cash
for jumping on buses to Las Vegas at 5 a.m.,
flights to seek lost boyfriends in Germany, or
potentials in midwestern cities. 
Youth fades into adulthood, freckles commingle
with age spots and chubby cheeks thin
into arrays of long awaited dimples.
The same smile still shines out,
I'm still inside
somewhere.