Away with the Bloom

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

their hollow heart
stolen
emptied of the room
that once held the sky

and Legos, too, and
Hot Wheels, vroom! vroom!
around the racetrack rug and
grooves between the 
floorboards, left 
everywhere
but in the toy chest

a boy’s world where 
freedom reigned and
imagination gained sinewy
muscles to climb, leap and fly
and still sometimes cry

and curl up in
his mother’s lap,
the gentle brush of 
her hand collecting the
pieces of his heart when they
would shatter, confused by mighty
adventures that went awry, startling him
She helped him rebuild one Lego at a time 
locking them into the grooves, stacking them 
strong, like his sinewy muscles they grew 
like race cars he zoomed over finish lines
until one day she could not meet him
there

and the room lost its spirit
as hers ascended
his heart hollowed 
away with the bloom
stolen
emptied of the room 
that once held the sky 

Thank you to Untamed Eulogy for the prompt that inspired this poem.