Slow Dancing the Past

Slow Dancing the Past by Odin Roark Shadows of yesterday frozen Even as high noon’s blazing heat Seems never to pass Fixed sturdy upon Nature’s ties Once shiny rails Hard driven spikes Forward movement changed In mind’s imploding delirium From behind Memoir nudges our sway Reluctantly we swing Along bedrock now exposed Arresting our attention Wildness carries forth endless existence Prickly sumac and hobo milkweed Bathe in the swirling dust of perpetuity As a Monarch’s wings tuck Taking refuge beneath rock Where the snake’s watchful eye Bids patience All around Admittance dictates Real life’s Iron Horse long gone Even though Journey’s seduction Fantasy Dreams Delusions Remains always ahead Waiting inside more transition tunnels As youth walking the tracks We saw the tunnel as mystery Adventure beckoning Threatening darkness Where simple unease Made exiting Peeking light At carving’s end Time passed Passageways continued Beckoning our courage Tracks of all sorts Lead to choosing Pondering Decision Endurance Some of us ambled Others jetted through Even fewer stared At risk’s pure darkness Imagined finality And then… Some of us sat Taking up the gentle amity Of sumac’s brambly aliveness Milkweed’s sharing promise Monarch’s trusting beauty The serpent’s eye winks We smile at it all As memories slow dance the past Reflecting off our bygone rails