distant photos

where have i been, since 1982, maybe it's time to plant some roses
rake the oak leaves from the yard, tell my sister silly stories, but
she died while i was wandering, left my mother in despair, or i could

wash my buick riviera, shine it for the veterans parade, and my breath
grows short at the fall of sun, when the evening cool comes on, my
daddy's books need dusting, my dreams some slight repair, but

time moves at an oddly pace, hours strike at will, clocks take slumbers
that mystify my day; our footsteps follow echoes, and we haunt this
memoried house, friends who dallied passing, neighbors with their

cares, were there ever children running, instant kodaks for a laugh?
did we make our tents from bedsheets, hide in fortresses of gold,
autumn fires still leave me bent with tears, and i chase fireflies like

a boy, i'd like a butter cake with icing, some vanilla on the top, but
there are times i must go walking, there's a darkness with no face,
am i in a distant photo, smiling on a bedroom wall, tall and young

and handsome, taken with a lover's careful eye? am i starring in
a movie, black and white with scratchy sound? is it time to cut
the lilacs, fix my favorite garden chair, there are goodly times

gone old and dim, sorrows fade at last, are there peaches in the
cupboard, why are my shirts a size too big? am i in a distant
photo, drinking beer and deep in song? i wish that sleep, it would

come easy, bring some solace at the end, but let me find a quiet
corner, and wonder where i've been, since 1982