Honouring Pasts Wafted Into the Ether

Tragedy swept through this life as a whirlwind,

Never was it foreseen – nor was it fair,

This life that had become was now to rescind,

Because of circumstance beset seeming without a care.

Awash with the unknowable a new life had to be made,

Striding down unknown streets with which to navigate,

Soon to adapt, wondering the same, why I hadn’t made the grade,

Comparing others’ lives and confusion at my unique state.

Looking back now there’s of course no harm,

In casting a glance and reconciling what became,

It’s part of who I am – about that I am calm,

Accepting the ebb and flow of years – fine to reclaim.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Life goes on eternally and the clock only winds forward, not back. This is a pity by way of reconciling a past that we cherish but that has now wafted into the ether of nothingness, barring memory.

If I consider a year—take 1993—I see it in my youth, and, of course, it glows.

I readily know that the situation back then wasn’t perfect, for nothing in life ever is, but there was a wealth of potential and expectation as my young family emerged in its living years.

How did we know back then what would become of us—some decade-plus on?

It’s not a sad story so much, as it’s a story deserving of its own cherished legacy. And we all have them—dramatic stories of our histories.

An Event to Change Everything

The poem is a requiem of the events emanating from a marriage separation and eventual divorce that took me by such surprise it still astonishes me; yet I’m no lone voice in the wilderness. Many are stricken in exact same ways.

The third stanza celebrates a reality that came quickly for me; thanks to the love of those surrounding me—those godly souls protecting me in the name of Christ during a tremulous time. I recovered with power and purpose. The worst events of my life were, ironically, the crowning glory of my purpose in Jesus Christ.

Don’t Forget to Honour That Dark Night

Facts as they are shouldn’t be denied.

Our pasts are possibly painful yet alluring in their mystery. We know they happened, and we know they were part of our formation—of who we are today—and we also know that we cannot go back there, but for our heart-tuned minds, photo albums, videos and reminiscing.

Where we want to get to is to enjoy delicious re-bites of those pies of our pasts—no matter how dark they were. They were so dark for the matters of love. Love it is that makes loss all the harder to take. But we’ll take love any day, for without it we’re nothing.

It holds God at great esteem to reflect on the truths of our pasts.

Salute the past!

© 2011 S. J. Wickham.