Poem of the Week: Photo Album

I've had this around for a long time now, and have been chipping and polishing it. This is one of my all-time favorite poems that I've ever written - a high watermark for me. A little Poe-ish, but still really powerful. I think I really captured a mood here:

I keep an old photo album
on my bottom shelf.
I get it out every once in a while,
just to sift the time away

I keep a lot of pictures
There inside that book. Some are old and a little
Yellow now, but still somehow clear.
Funny hair and clothes. Gigs and weddings,
funerals and newspaper clips,
just like time standing still

Tonight I looked through it again,
just knowing what I might find.
Somehow I think my heart
knew what it was looking for.
by the time I got halfway through

As I neared the end
of this blue memory lane…I saw it again…
the picture of you and me on our first night together.
I remember your blue eyes, your beautiful smile….
I remembered you….in my heart

You are, were, and always will be the love of my life,
The memories came flooding back,
too fast for words, and too strong to hold.
I remember God smiling down on us
As we shared our first night.

Dear God-how I loved you
(and still love you) so much
But now it can’t be…when
time and pain have driven us apart.
How did it get this way?

For minutes that seemed like years,
I cried my tears on your picture
And kissed your cheek on that page
I was trying so hard to keep the pain away.
But it came unrelenting…

And I’m afraid there are
many more tears to cry
who knows when they’ll come
My heart is forever yours, captured
in a snapshot on page 24

As I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord keeps you safe
May you feel loved tonight
even though
I’m very far away

I’ll always keep your picture
And your kiss inside my heart
I just can’t bear to
throw away the memory
Of the love that we’ve lost

Your picture is still inside
That album on my shelf
Sealed by tears, and prayers
Memories too painful to hold on to,
and too precious to let go