pancakes and prizes

have you ever seen contentment
as it radiates through someone’s eyes?
for what seemed like seconds, 
i experienced that.
and it pains me to know it’s gone.

my eyes now fill with tar
a dark blue, murky abyss. 
i yearn for that beauty again,
and ache as it subsides.

you made me feel like
the morning you woke up
to mom and dad in the kitchen
making pancakes, dancing. 

nostalgic,
and so comfortable,
like waking up in my bed
after falling asleep
on the couch. 

i want to feel again,
the way it felt when you
held your arms around my waist
like a child at a fair,
who just won the prize. 

but the fair left town,
and mom and dad
don’t love each other
anymore.