When All that's Left
When all that's left are memories
like glints off cut-glass jewels
I lie in early morning mist, half awake, not quite asleep
trying to remember, and just as hard, not to forget.
The air tastes of rain and something older,
a bird sings somewhere beyond the fog
not the same one as before
yet near enough I can believe.
Will there be other roads again?
Maybe – but fewer than there were
Still, the sun finds me, as it always has,
threading through what's left of fog,
and turning every drop of dew
into a diamond memory.
For the moment, that's enough.
Dale Scherfling is a newspaper veteran of 30 years, serving as a sportswriter, columnist, editor, and photographer, and a retired Navy journalist and photographer. His work has been accepted by San Diego Poetry Annual, Letters Journal, The Blotter Magazine, 25:05 Magazine, Writing Teacher, Third Act Magazine, Yellow Mama, Close to the Bone, Flash Phantom, Does it Have Pockets Magazine, Lost Blonde Literary, All Hands Magazine, Pacific Crossroads, Daily Californian, Naval Aviation Magazine, Propeller Magazine, Buckeye Guard Magazine, and Oddball Magazine. He is the recipient of three U.S. Army Front Page Journalism Awards and is also a college lecturer and instructor of photojournalism, photography, and music.
When all that's left are memories
like glints off cut-glass jewels
I lie in early morning mist, half awake, not quite asleep
trying to remember, and just as hard, not to forget.
The air tastes of rain and something older,
a bird sings somewhere beyond the fog
not the same one as before
yet near enough I can believe.
Will there be other roads again?
Maybe – but fewer than there were
Still, the sun finds me, as it always has,
threading through what's left of fog,
and turning every drop of dew
into a diamond memory.
For the moment, that's enough.
Dale Scherfling is a newspaper veteran of 30 years, serving as a sportswriter, columnist, editor, and photographer, and a retired Navy journalist and photographer. His work has been accepted by San Diego Poetry Annual, Letters Journal, The Blotter Magazine, 25:05 Magazine, Writing Teacher, Third Act Magazine, Yellow Mama, Close to the Bone, Flash Phantom, Does it Have Pockets Magazine, Lost Blonde Literary, All Hands Magazine, Pacific Crossroads, Daily Californian, Naval Aviation Magazine, Propeller Magazine, Buckeye Guard Magazine, and Oddball Magazine. He is the recipient of three U.S. Army Front Page Journalism Awards and is also a college lecturer and instructor of photojournalism, photography, and music.
