Looking Back and Looking Now

I went down to the memory lane

And walked alone along the hazy trail

I saw my boyhood and the dogs I owned

And the field down the street where I played ball

On hot summer days with my friends

I walked into my grandparent’s house

The little place a few blocks away

Where love reigned and the hugs would never end

And I felt a worth I’ve not since known

I saw the art class in junior high

Where I built a sculpture out of tiles

A cathedral with a golden steeple

That my mom kept for years in our home

I waved at the girl I kissed under the bleachers

At the football game in the high school stadium

And she smiled at me like she did long ago

And I remembered how sweet life was

How easy the days all seemed to flow

I drove my first car to the Dairy Queen

And sat and watched the kids all come and go

Their laughter was real and their faces beamed

With innocence that now has disappeared

From the faces of so many kids I know

I sat in church and heard the old hymns being sung

And everything seemed genuine and everyone sincere

And the Cross on the Communion Table was not a scary thing

But radiated something kind that made me think that God was love

That Jesus died there not in shame and not for sins and not for heaven

But as a place where love went the distance and was not defeated by hate

I visited the library where I cast my first vote when I was 21

And I remember it seemed a sacred thing I barely understood

But I never saw an angry face or heard anyone yell or curse

People voted quietly and walked away back to the simple lives we all lived

The old baseball lot is a strip mall now

And my grandparents have long since left this earth

And my cathedral is gone along with Mom and Dad

And the girl I kissed at the high school game

The Dairy Queen is a Dollar Store

And the church a bank on a busy street

And no one waves anymore or smiles when they meet

And voting is a battle and a war and a divisive thing

And the nation is stiff and cold and brittle and angry

And there is little that holds us together or keeps us one

We have surrendered substance and heart for entertainment

And even that is a sour thing we all abhor

And I wonder about years from now

What will be and what others will say

About who we were and what we did

And how we talked and how we lived

© 2016 Timothy Moody