Hide and Seek

An elementary game, it was ‘hide and seek’
A grown man now, and still just as free
At merry times, out comes the child in thee
I can’t recall though, having it leave

‘Ten, nine, eight’, and as I ran away to hide
Gleeful anxiety, it all started to ball up inside
Like a madman racing, the ideal spot I eyed
Yes- an antique cabinet, so in I did climb

‘Ready or not’, and I’m visible no more
Musty clothes my shield, mention not the mahogany door
Footsteps I hear, they pass me by over and over
The hiding place of a lifetime, I’ve chosen for sure

Minutes turn to hours, and silence is all I hear
The footsteps have since faded, no longer are they near
Darkness has overcome me, so out the door I do peer
The room in which I was just hidden, I now start to fear

As I crawl out of the cabinet, nothing here is the same
Like time has reversed itself, during the middle of this game
I see no one around, but I hear a call for my name
‘Patrick’, ‘come here please’, as if I’m quickly going insane

Shuffling into the room, it was just down the hall
My mind still spinning, from the utter confusion of it all
‘Patrick’, it gets louder, as my name it’s once again called
The voice I recognize, but of whom this is, I cannot recall

Turning the corner, and into the kitchen I cautiously peek
For what is this? It’s my mother, unexpectedly that I see
Thirty years younger, and standing there looking at me
I, profusely dismayed, but she doesn’t seem to be

Just a game of ‘hide and seek’, and now here I stand
A journey back into my history, it has caused me to land
An antique cabinet and a few hours, now, minus the man
My memories of the future, I now hold in my little hands

I ponder, should I return to that cabinet, and climb back inside?
Or should I live my life again, saying ‘goodbye’ to my pride?
It’s a question I ask myself, throwing my fear to the side
Staying, I will, looking forward again to my life’s psychotic ride