SHADOWS OUT OF YESTERDAY

From somewhere back in my yesterdays,

spent time now memories,

come faces, blurred, into my thoughts

that I cannot quite see;

shadows that hang on the rim,

perhaps as it is meant to be,

memories of times we shared for just awhile,

shadows of my yesterdays, of them and me,

friendships faded to blurred images

as life’s path took us separate ways…

But I’ll treasure those memories

until the end of days.

Deep down in my memory

shadow images remain,

faces I cannot distinguish,

just a whisper of a name…

And yet, some ways they’ve meant a lot to me,

these folks, these classmates from yesterday

that shared my laughter and my tears

and then life took us separate ways…

But they will be a part of who I am

until the end of days.

It’s been fifty years since high school

and for fifty years most have never been in touch.

We just never quite connected

so I doubt they’d care very much

if I came to our banquet,

if I showed up or not.

Four years of high school memories

no longer really means a lot.

Our lives today are very different

and I have nothing of value I care to share…

and those few I really felt close to,

they won’t be there;

they’ve already passed away

or have no plans to go

so I guess I’ll just stay home again.

I’ll be a “no show.”

For the first ten years I tried

to keep in touch with my high school class,

I wrote to some and now and then would meet

someone out of my past,

someone I went to high school with

but you can’t go back.

We really weren’t what I’d call friends,

not real friends back then

and though some memories are really good

I’d rather not go back again.

From somewhere back in my yesterdays,

spent time now memories,

come faces, blurred, into my thoughts

that I cannot quite see,

faces I cannot distinguish,

just a whisper of a name…

And yet, in ways they’ve meant a lot to me

and forever in my thoughts remain.

I don’t fit in.  I never did,

not with the high school crowd…

and in years when I was growing up

to hang out was not allowed.

I always felt I didn’t quite belong

or was the butt of their jokes

and in fifty years I don’t think I’ve received

more than six replies to any note I wrote.

I don’t see a fifty year reunion

really changing anything

and I don’t have much to offer

sitting around remembering

my four years of high school,

all those times I cannot change

and the few classmates I feel I know,

on one hand I can name.

I never really felt a part

of their life, our growing years

and I doubt I’d feel a part today

now that old age is here.

Fifty years have come and gone

and not one thing can I change

yet deep down in my memory

shadow images remain,

faces I cannot distinguish,

just a whisper of a name…

And yet, some ways they’ve meant a lot to me,

these folks, these classmates from yesterday

that shared my laughter and my tears

and then life took us separate ways…

But they will be a part of who I am

until the end of days.