Lost

by James Babbs

after all these years
I’m still that little boy
who got lost in the department store
when he was only six years old
I still get scared at night
listening to the wind blow
especially
after I’ve been drinking
when I’m lying here alone and
I can’t get to sleep
I remember how it felt
going up and down the aisles
tears running down my face
wondering
if I’d ever see my parents again
both of them dead now
and the wind keeps rattling the blind
until I get up and close the window
standing there for a moment
looking around the room