“on looking back”

Upon the old lane where the shadows grow thin,  
I stroll through my yesterdays deep from within.  
Sunbeams fall soft on the frost-bitten ground,  
Lighting the echoes of years I have found.

Each memory flickers—gold leaf in the wind—  
Pages well-thumbed with the stories I’ve pinned.  
Laughter like bird notes, now trembling and rare,  
Tumbles and soars on the gentle spring air.

Moments I gathered as petals and stones—  
Some bright as promise, some heavy as bones—  
Shape who I’ve become as I wander the track,  
Each footprint a lesson, on looking back.

Faces remembered, the dreams once pursued,  
Even the stumbles, the times I’ve been crude,  
All seem to shimmer with bittersweet grace,  
Threads in the tapestry, woven in place.

Now, with a quiet and grateful repose,  
I meet the horizon where memory glows.  
Forward I journey—my story intact—  
Richer for all I have gained by looking back.

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