This is a melancholy sort of poem, but just so y’all know, I’m not sad. In fact, I am very much at peace and I have great hope for the future. I do, however, often look longingly at the way things used to be. I think we all tend to do that. It’s spring. Be happy.
Those Times Ago
Eyes closed, I smiled and imagined
A full moon hanging low in the sky
Looking like a shiny pearl button
On a dandy cowboy’s shirt
Sequin stars glittered
On a blouse of blue-black silk
While in the distance cattle lowed
And coyotes yipped and howled
When I opened my eyes
It all faded to cold hard truth
The hot dry grass on my neck
And burning tears I wouldn’t let fall
City traffic whirred nearby
Distant sirens pierced the night
A neighbor screamed angrily
At her laughing children
I gazed up at the dingy sky
Closed my eyes and tried to recall
Those times so long ago
When hope still lived within me
Times when stars twinkled
The man in the moon smiled
And parents, tired from their day
Murmured and chuckled softly
Gliding in the old wooden swing on the porch
Smiling, looking forward to tomorrow
While in the moon-shadow of a tree
Children tittered secret laughter
I wondered when the world had changed
And wished we could go back
To when life was simple; those times ago
When hope was more than just a word
Copyright © 2011 C. Mashburn