Leaving Lehighton

I stood in the open doorway,
Taking a deep, broken breath.
Hoping I could remember every detail,
That had comforted me all these years.

Boxes lining the walls that protected me.
The ones that heard my cries at night,
And my laughs during the day.
Sheltering me from the cruel world around me.

Looking in the now lonely corner,
Once accompanied by moments in time.
Captured in memory, on paper,
For eternity our smiles will be saved.

Touching the wall, now restored,
That we had carved our names into.
Friends promising friends that Lehighton Tribe was forever,
And  we would never leave each other.

Closing my eyes to remember,
The footsteps of my family on the floors.
And the sound of the movies playing,
A family night together.

Holding back the flood of tears,
And trying to steady my breathing.
I heard the words, ripping my heart in two,
“Time for a new home and a new beginning”.