Tape Measure

How long has it been Since your words woke me Spoke to me As I spooned extra sugar Into my clear my thoughts coffee How far did I allow my daydreams to drift A helium balloon let loose How many miles did my mind walk Retracing the steps from then to now And how many times did I realize I WAS actually lost Yet afraid to turn back I just kept wandering further Knowing there would be no finish line How much had I changed Sometimes I felt my own skin was more ill fitting Than those faded jeans I refused to part with I let my hair grow longer I saw my once cinched in waistline expand I stopped wearing six inch heels And found flats seemed appropriately named I did not tie a yard of yellow ribbon Around the first handpicked bundle of lilacs I did not count the days leading to the weekend I stopped recording how many times A stone thrown perfectly Will skip across the lake's surface In a fitting room A young woman wrapped her tape measure Under my arms across my chest The measurement was less than I remembered... Perhaps a broken heart allows for inches to fall away