Metal Flake

Metal flake 5/11/2012

I remember metal flake
Everywhere on everything
Glittering deep and reflecting the sun
In the long summer days
Dead and gone.

My dad’s boat bounced off the waves
As we dragged my sisters on skis
And how I loved the water in my face
White, frothy
Pure and alive.

Everything seemed possible
And everything was promised
With everything ahead of me
And nothing behind
But laughter.

We drank RC cola
And walked to the drug store
Shopping in stores that no longer exist
And walking on sidewalks
Vacant and lost.

There were book stores
And there were diners
Boutiques and haberdashers
All gone and blown away.

Life must be nurtured
Cultivated and fed
Lest it be overused
Wasted, desolate
Alien and dead.

Overrun and overused
As greedy hands destroy
But never build
Such is the waste
And such is the truth.

Unrecognizable are the ghost towns
Where no one cares
And no one remains
Victims of convenience
And mindless politics.

Time is fleeting
But even evil
Shall wither and die
Killing itself with neglect
And indifference.

It is the nature of man
To fall and rise
But the truth still stands
For those that are willing.

For me it is time
To rebuild and renew
Scrubbing away the tarnish
And buffing out the scars.

Because I am alive
And my children are worth it
The hard work of life
And the necessity of preservation.

A new patina
With the lustre of the past
And a new hope
For greater glory.

Taking back what is ours
Piece by piece
And brick by brick
Building a new world
With pieces of the past.