"My Old Shelf" by Natallia Clark

If I could go back

To see my old self,

What would I give her

From my life’s shelf?

Atop it stands my past

Its good and its bad.

Yet it still stands tall

Almost iron-clad.

Would I try to change it

To see what I could be?

But without my mistakes

Am I truly me?

Perhaps it would be simpler

Without some books on the wall.

Less hurt and less pain

I might have had it all.

But what if I can’t help

And I avoided something worse?

What if the bookshelf tumbles?

What if I can’t break the curse?

Some books are best closed

And trinkets hidden away.

Because what if it spills

What would I say?

I might lie once again.

I might stand firm.

Perhaps I’ll never know

And I may never confirm.

Forgive me Lord

For I never knew,

How fragile it would be

And all that I would do.

But if I could go back

To see my old self.

I would smile and tell her

To change nothing else.