The photo is blurred and abstract

Yet the memory is clear and vivid

I relive it occasionally

When I allow myself to think of him and me

Us … the same person, he used to say…

A vintage dress I found

Giddy as a teenager at the discovery

And flowers he went looking for

When we realized I didn’t have a bouquet

I still see him cutting them …

Crossing back proudly to hand them to me

We later gave them to the sea

He’s gone from this life now

But we righted a mistake on that sunset beach

A long time after our parting

That awful fateful day many years before …

We tried as hard as time would allow

To recapture lost days and memories never made

I gaze upon this photo in feeling more than sight

What had fallen away from us was scattered around

And I knelt to pick up the pieces

Him beside me … desperate, happy, grateful, sad …

Grabbing anything that resembled

Something time had stolen

We were unaware that we were somehow aware

that time was running out … again …

For this one lovely day

I am more than thankful

And when I let myself feel those feelings again

The years just melt away

Like morning mist on a sunny day

And the fleeting scent of old perfume