We Remember When

When did the tick tick tock
from the tall chiming clock
become a tick tick twitch?
It moves like an itch,
forcing tired memories to rewind, to remind,
of all the past mistakes and those long nights awake,
or the daily grind
of what is still yet to come.
Generations of tomorrows,
filled with the sorrows,
of another tragedy.
Each next day,
painfully birthing another day of duty.
Responsibility.
Another day spent missing a long forgotten yesterday.
 Memories of summer skies and wandering eyes
that once could ponder the day away.
Long passed days,
 when the colors of the seasons were counted
like rosebuds and the soft petals of a lightly yellow tipped lily.
A time when the smell of dirt smelled like life,
 like sun, and moon, and hope, and strife.
We think of those times
between coffee sips and vacation trips.
We remember when.
When love was not angry, or hopeless, or proud.
Love was watching that single puff of whirling cloud
drift lazily across an endless ocean of sky
because the caress of blue was all it ever wished for.
We never had to ask why.
It just was.
Simply because.
And that was peace.
Serenity was the leaves' gentle nod
as the wind kissed their fresh green lips.
Joy was outstretched fingertips never left wanting.
We remember when.
Even after years have passed like a night without stars.
We remember them as we drive our cars.
We remember them as we hide the scars
of some other day's madness.
We remember as we wash the work out of our clothes.
We remember the feel of fresh earth between wet toes.
The memory survives.
It carries us on,
Moving us through the seasons of our lives.
It helps the foreboding chime of time
ting with a softer song.
it reminds us to see past the grind
and keep counting colors.