This poem appeared in the inaugural appearance of "Poetry Corner" in the February 1, 2005 edition of the West Bend Daily News. It also appears in my book "Ripples". Sunset Ridge is a real place where my childhood and teenage years were spent.
With weary eyes I now gaze Upon a street corner where we used to play While reminiscing a tear did gleam By the streetlight where Sunset and Adams meet This is my hometown, but I recognize it no more As another Eighties memory washes ashore In the grey of my mind, I seek a reprieve From how time has covered our footprints with leaves These days you may bump into an old friend While walking down the old paths in West Bend But today I stand still to see where memories spawn And in these wee morning hours, I wait on the dawn In these moving pictures I see The child who stumbled, a young man's foolery Out in the streets where we once played Seeking a sun rising fine Sunset decayed Faces of youth now finding lines A mirror, once friendly, does not fit for disguise Statues remain only slightly aged This seemed to me a comfort among the decay Friends are somehow different these days Tattered and torn but not out of the game With “how do you do’s?” and “how have you been?” Conversations closed with “I'll see you again” “Don’t be a stranger” are the lyrics we sang To a melody of plucked heartstrings we used to play The streets are the same, some names have been changed While we walked the ruins of Sunset decayed “Where are you now?” these thoughts I revere Since we've all grown up there's no time together Visits happen maybe once, twice a year Now letters are where we meet and where we hear “Hey look who's back in the old neighborhood, Yes, I've come back and times treated you good” With a picture and a thousand words I'd like to make up for the time that's been burned It’s so long not goodbye I offer this day With hope and tomorrow I find Sunset replayed
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