On My Six

on my six the village faded in my past when at last i walked through the gate for the final time neither of us remained the same as we were in the days of my coming of age back then the colours were brighter our laughter was lighter with all my possessions on my back in my Dad's old navy pack i paused at the end of the road by the wall which today is not so tall as it was then i stared at the old rough stones long ago discoloured and beaten by wind and rain to the left the bend curved right and out of my sight a couple hundred yards down where when we were all young we sneaked a peek when colin flarety was "courting" the miller twins from across the field to the right straight and true narrowing down to a pin point in the far distance shadowed by the morning mist that hung heavy after the night's storm hefting my Dad's sea bag i headed left maybe just to see if anything had changed.