I put on my boots this morning and took a walk through my past
I saw some things that amused me, so I smiled and I laughed
I remember my first fight in the school yard grass
I lost that battle my opponent too fast

In my second fight I won it hands down
I beat the same challenger 'til he fell to the ground
I put my hand out to help him up
And to this day we both still keep in touch

There once was a time that I stared at the sky
And made shapes that I dreamed up in clouds that past by
I think I was eight the last time that I cried
Even when my dear Aunt past my eyes remained dry

I don’t think that says much for ones character
But I couldn’t cry for her passing
Because she filled me with such laughter
She was so witty, sarcastic and always full of fun
And to my mother’s four boys she regarded as sons

So my bootlaces became undone
So I bent to ties them back up
And through my past
I then once again begun

I saw the first girl that I ever did kiss
I was nervous and shaking and her front tooth I chipped
She cupped my face as we gently touched lips
She sat on my lap and rotated her hips

It was a cool night and the City streets were all dark
As we explored and caressed in Washington Square Park
Shortly soon after she made a remark
She said that she loved me and I’d stolen her heart

Years have passed now and she’s no longer in my life
But as the years pass I still remember that night
There’s only one once
Because once it occurs again
Then its twice
But I wish I felt like that again
God's speed on her plight

So my boots got too tight
And I decided to sit for a while
And I stared back at my self
What a remarkable child

Stricken with ailment
That left me so still
I taught myself how to draw
I had the time to kill

No legs to run wild
But I never allowed it to break my will
And my mother was there
Every step up that hill

As I sat to revive I saw me, the young man
Cocky and arrogant most adults couldn’t stand
I now had the faculties to make it out there
But not the good sense to learn and beware

I made some mistakes
Most I could have avoid
But I had the built of a man
The soul of a boy

Eventually I would learn what it meant to be grown
And I would learn how to live and to stand on my own
I'm only human so to mistakes I am prone
But I know now how to accept them
And simply move on

My boots felt much better so I decided to go
And bumped into myself at a summer talent show
I sung a song that was popular back then
And got accolades and cheers when I took home the win

I continued to walk
Passed the time when my mother and I talked
About the values of love
Her voice warm and so soft

I went through my life the things I had did
>From yesterday morning
To my earliest memory as a kid
I looked down and saw my heals they were worn flat
And it suddenly dawned on me that there’s no turning back

So I slipped off my boots and I continued bare foot
It felt like a quarter century I’d walked but mere seconds it took
I was proud to see how to others I appear
Like a confident man who’s learned through the years

I looked at my boots
That walked with me through these times
And was astonished at the comparison I had made in my mind
All rugged but not worn
Still intact like my hide
The interior familiar and warm
Where my heart and soul sits inside
These boots learned to bend and adapt through the years
So I put them back on
What a trusty brown pair.