A poem that doesn't rhyme

Remember when we were young?
Everything felt so easy didn't it?
Perfect, happy, brilliant and most of all,
Everything was okay.
The best days were those when nothing mattered,
No one cared what clothes you were wearing,
No one cared what was on the news that day,
No one cared about money
Or about anything really.
No one cared.
Things were quiet and I could still feel the wind whistling through the trees around me.
I could still hear the birds sometimes.
But do you remember?

Can you still smell the mustiness of the autumn leaves,
And smoke from the fires,
And the baking of those cakes?
Would you say everything was better when we laughed,
Outside, not trapped or confined.
We were free as we roamed the world,
Fearless and free,
We were happier, then.
The world was open and welcoming,
And we wanted all of it.
We wanted the sun and we wanted the moon and the stars.
All at once, all of the time.
Can we still have them?

Do you know how it felt when we looked up at the sky?
Or we ran round in circles, dreaming.
And do you know how much I cared
About everything. And everyone.
Did you think we would be young forever?
Did you think that our lives were planned out,
That we had it all worked out,
And there were no surprises left.
Nothing that would hurt us, or trouble us.
Nothing that would stop us.
And we flew through the streets every day, soaring and tumbling.
We never stopped flying.
Did you lose it all too?

Can you believe it all happened so fast?
Times have changed since that last year,
We take it one day at a time now,
One step, carefully and cautiously, trying to pick up the pieces as we go.
So we hold our hearts in our hands,
And we sing the songs of the past,
Listening to the memories in the darkness.
It's peaceful but alarming at the same time.
And those chilling, dark shadows that appear at my window,
They never give up and they surround my soul, taking everything.
So I remind them of the birds and of the trees and the stars
And I send them home smiling.
At least I think they're smiling.