stolen.

slipping through my fingers... never to be caught again.

the loss.

it squeezes the heart and suffocates the soul. oh, how we long for what is no more...

the busy-ness has stolen life's moments.

the responsibilities have wrestled them from my grasp.

the desire for control has usurped the fleeting joys.

preoccupation is my nemesis.

sought after visions are cruel diversions.

contradictory purposes take precedence, with retrospective regret.

too little...

    too late.

it steals away my happinesses.

    it takes... and takes... and takes...

            my soul feels empty.

no turning back. no reaching behind.

they dissipate instantaneously as they pass, more often than not without notice.

experienced just once... then they go on to echo in the hallways of my mind.

i am left stranded with the haunting regret for the way i've passed my time.

the little things... the "need-to-do's"... the "have-to-have's"...

               gently and inconspicuously... steal my joys.

     such a crime is undiscovered until it is much...too..late.

everything that means anything has been stolen.

but it was me who left the door unlocked.