The Distance Within

Alone I sit, and close my eyes,
A stranger under my own skies.
The real me is a distant shore,
I don't know my way back anymore.

I'm tired of changing, day by day,
Wearing a different face in every way.
Adapting, yes, was meant to be,
But losing my soul wasn't me.
Outside forces, deep inside,
A current where my spirit died.
I didn't see, I couldn't know,
How far from me, I'd let myself go.

I wish that I could be the child,
Untamed, unfiltered, and running wild.
No thoughts of what the world might say,
Just living life in my own way.

That past is gone, now out of view,
A truth I wish wasn't so true.
So let me pause this changing tide,
And bring the self I've kept inside.
I'll shrink the distance, close the space,
And find my soul's long-lost embrace.
Keep what is real, raw, and true,
And bring back the person I always knew.