Back To You – Written March 2026 (Aged 51)

Back To You

If I could go back —
to sixteen year old you;
love you, love you,
and it breaks every piece
of my heart,
every part of my being,
to see you like this.
If only…
if only I could go back
to sixteen year old you
and somehow pick you up
and repair —
the parts of you
so broken.
But then,
I would be
sixteen year old me,
and I was so broken
as well;
a victim
of a tabloid style childhood
with a teenage
kiss and tell;
a flummoxed child,
lost in a musical
wishing well.
And now,
all these years later
I am here
listening to you;
I just want to help,
to hold you tight,
make it better…
I want to write
to your younger self
in 1990s style letters.
If I could go back
to sixteen year old you,
and be there
as me now,
to help you repair…
it is the illusion
of being young —
that is,
being young
and not having any cares.
I would hold you
in my arms,
because you know
how much I care;
but none of us
can retrace
the steps of our trauma
and go back there.

James Garratt – March 2026

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https://theboybehindtheglasses.com/2020/01/08/the-boy-behind-the-glasses-an-introduction/

More poems from 2026
https://theboybehindtheglasses.com/category/poems-and-writing-2026/