google-earth

i was cruising thru the old neighborhood again,
thanks to Google-Earth, closest i can get,
so much has changed, nothing stays the same,
two different neighborhoods twelve miles apart,
time and distance can't stall progress,
the woods north of the middle school are gone,
some kind of business with rows of trailers,
metallic monoliths rusting in the sun,
remember all the crazy stuff we had stumbled upon,
thought somebody had been living there,
or at least used it just to have sex,
old discarded mattress and condoms,
beer and booze and broken glass,
maybe just some reckless youths,
just wasting away the long summer day,
or energized by the approaching twilight,
burning branches and limbs,
shrugged off by the sickly trees,
nothing now but a memory,
the play fields of our youth,
reduced and chopped down,
to make room for homes and businesses,
steady progress can't be stopped,
but i feel as if something's been lost,
but now too late to go back,
nothing is much the same at all,
if I could go back what would I do,
if I could go back what would be different,
maybe I would actually try this time around,
maybe I would let myself live this time,
maybe I wouldn't be too scared to do,
but then again I'd probably do it all over again.