the Details of our Past

You… You were able to fall asleep under the oak tree in the shade of your youth… in the cool years of contentment. And you… You kissed the cheek of your grandmother as she smiled into your heart… you felt the soft skin of her hand and knew you came from her very soul. And you… You felt the freedom of the wind and the innocence of play… the neighborhood was your world and you knew the comfort and the allure of your home.

And you… You fell in love… a love that takes your heart to a place of secrets… a place that no one else can understand… a place you can go to, to calm your mind. And you… You picked the smallest of flowers and forced the details into your mind… the details that help you to recall the times that time stands still. And you… You took the time to truly know the heart of a friend. You replay the eyes and the laugh into memory. You can feel the anxiety of separation…

And you… You studied your soul to make it right with your God. You took the time to forgive and to understand… and to listen. And you… You counted the years as they flowed like sands through a child’s fingers. They push us like the wind behind the swollen clouds. And you… You made a home… a home that is your refuge… a home that shelters the offspring that will continue in our path… the offspring that will do the things we leave undone…

I saw it in your eyes… I saw it in your smiles. I could feel the power of the sincerity and I could sense the walls that may protect you. I could feel your past as you spoke… and the details of our past found their way into my mind’s eye. I took your memories and wove them into my past… a past that I have as my treasure box. You are the friends that make me, the me that I am.

         

                                                            Shannon R Killman