Shadows tread in life’s past.
Embers gleam red passion,
pale to ashen grey.
Ship wakes sink into oblivion.
Sand dollars, once much more.
Daguerrotypes.
Faces unknown
posed in serious countenance,
fade frozen in corroded frames.
Vestigial pock marks upon the earth.
Life marches forward
directionally unaware,
into the past.
Written for Open Link Night at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets. April is national poetry month so drop by to imbibe some words with us – or better yet, step up to the bar, no prompt on OLN. It’s an opportunity to share as you wish! Bar opens at 3:00 PM Boston time. Photo in public domain.
lillian the home poet 
Time is relentless as it moves us forward… and looking back there are only shadows. And forward the unknown. Constantly we’re moving.
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The clock keeps ticking….funny how our shadow can also be in front of us. Wouldn’t you love it if you could ask what your next step will be in to? 🙂
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Marching forward into the past… have always wondered if time is truly linear!!
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I so agree!
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The second stanza could stand on its own, Lillian, a word daguerrotype.
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Great idea, Kim. I adjusted a bit and sent it into One Sentence Poems. We’ll see…..Thanks for the idea. My poetry mentor always says, “look for the poem within a poem.”
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Useful advice!
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“Life marches forward
directionally unaware”
It just keeps going, doesn’t it? And we spend so much of life either looking back or worrying about what’s to be and thereby missing the now.
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Exactly………the present……it’s all wrapped up for us to enjoy! 🙂
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An evocative poem. Reminds me of Walt Whitman’s “The powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse”.
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So glad you enjoyed, Bev.
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Great opening line. Perhaps we do cast a shadow in the past, as the past overshadows our present.
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Oh yes. And sometimes I wonder if my shadow is doing its own little shenanigans behind my back where I can’t see it!!! 🙂
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🙂
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I can almost smell that smouldering of the embers…
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That’s the aroma I love when camping ….. 🙂
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This is so powerful! Especially love the second stanza ❤️
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Thank you, Sanaa.
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I love those last three lines!
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Thank you, Rachel! So glad you enjoyed.
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‘Life marches forward directionally unaware, into the past’ is such a powerful line – I often wonder whether time is linear
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Sometimes I just stare at the clock and wonder why I can’t stop it. Did you ever read the play Our Town? In it, the main character (who is dead) is allowed to go back to earth to relive just one day. He’s told to pick an uneventful day (rather than a birthday, or a birth etc) because even that will be powerful to relive. Interesting, right? Every moment is precious.
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Thank you for introducing me to ‘Our Town’ Lillian – an uneventful day can still hold so many precious moments and there is silence, peace and love in the uneventfulness itself. Having witnessed so many friends and family members die young has made me deeply appreciate the time we have together and in this lifetime. It is all about fully present in each moment, about enjoying the now 💖 xxx
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Brava.. 🌹🌹🌹
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Thank you!
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Yes, time moves forward, in a linear manner, but do we have the wisdom to accept this and flow, with the tides, in whatever manner, they go?
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…and can we throw a pebble in and disrupt the flow….or build a damn and channel the flow? All interesting questions, right?
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I love the time marching forward and the whole last stanza ~ Now that I am older, I feel it marching even faster ~
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I so agree, Grace. The older I get the faster time seems to go by. Thankful for every day.
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past present and future all teach us more about ourselves and the life we are meant to lead, what do we do with the lessons and the time given us? very thought provoking words Lilian!
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…and a very thoughtful response. Thank you!
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Thought provoking Lil. Each description carries it’s own realization that nothing is constant or stays the same.. even a rock changes with time.. I love the last sentence (Life marches forward
directionally unaware, into the past.) All things return to what they once were… a good Catholic phrase: ashes to ashes, dust to dust… rocks to sediment.. Love it!
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I shared this comment with George. He says you should have been a geologist! 🙂
Yes….sometimes my pen does get going where I can’t even figure out how it got there….pondering….
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Nice wood fire. I wonder why those people in those old photographs had a serious countenance?
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I’ve often wondered that too. Nobody in those days ever smiled for the camera! Maybe it was because they were afraid of that little “poof” when the camera went off?
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Yup–your last stanza is wonderful!
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Thank you!
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Oh those serious faces in the old pics, especially those in the memento mori…Time does move on.
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Thankful for every day. I wonder, as did Frank, why people always were so somber in those kinds of photos?
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They were rare and very expensive. so rather than risk messing up a photo with a frivolous appearance, the folks would be serious. It was an important occasion. and then, many of them took photos of the dead – a woman holding her dead baby, several dead children in bed, a woman beside the coffin of her husband – not exactly smiling occasions. The Victorians were odd folk and even now, here in the south, ghoulish as it may seem, many people will take photos of their loved ones in their casket. So!
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I have the most amazing photo of my father and his twin sister at about age 2, on a leather formal chair. How in heavens’ name they got them to sit still!!! What you say makes absolute sense here…….
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It is hard to get any child to sit still for a photo. esp. when under 4 years old.
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What we see as hurtling towards the future, or into the future, will at one time be considered quaint, or even naive. We spend so much of our time planning for a future that never was. Memento mori, such a sad, sad day.
Thank you for sharing!
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I often try to remember, the real gift is today….that’s why it’s called the present! 🙂
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Life marches om as until then becomes remember when. Nice.
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Thank you, Ravienne!
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Love this look into a fading past.
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Thank you Bryan. Glad you enjoyed!
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That last stanza is brilliant.
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“Sand dollars, once much more” – the loveliest of lines Lilian 🙂
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The photo warms me and your words are food for thought. Great title…and vocabulary, Lillian!
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What an interesting perspective on time and its passage. Really enjoyed this.
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Thank you, Sue. So glad you enjoyed! 🙂
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I saw embers from a funeral pyre there. And I absolutely loved every word!
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I’m so glad you enjoyed! Thanks for the comment and the read — truly appreciated!
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You’re welcome
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