Forgotten Times

by Salvador Ramirez

It’s getting late and I’m not home

9:38 on the telephone

I’m wandering then hear this song

That used to wake me up at dawn

I hate this tune. But I know it by heart

It was the tune of the morning

My little sisters would always pick

We used to joke about the future

Funny enough, it’s far from what I dreamed

It’s the third time I write this text,

“forgotten times” more like intentionally kept

It was forbidden to talk about these years,

But there’s still some things that I miss

We’d make competitions for the best drawing

To hide the cracks upon the walls

The five of us would spend the day outside

To stay away from Them at all costs

We’d always make the biggest snacks

And binge away before she came back

Our favorite game: hide, don’t speak

And wait it out until she’d sleep

It was a never ending holiday

With movies, games to mask decay

The more we grew, the less with her

A truth that feels like a blur

We promised to never part

But I see the reasons, I’m not mad

Forgotten times, I’m far away

I count my life in shifts and pay.