the youth of my youth

These streets 

They're so familiar

The memories of my first first love lingers in the traffic signal that has been here forever

It rings through the hawkers calls

It shines and glimmers over the bright signs and boards of the shops we stood by.

These streets are so irrelevant to the city 

Just a blip on the map

But they make the city of me

They've helped build it up 

I'm still delayering and un-mapping these streets 

I still don't understand them, 

Even though they feel ancient and frozen in time 

The people that made all my firsts are gone

But these alleys remain

And I stumble upon them unexpectedly at every other turn 

Not knowing what to think or do

Other than flashing a knowing smile 

At the ghost of myself living through that time.