All Our Yesterdays (Poetry)

It was surely only yesterday
or perhaps the day before
that was how it always seemed
it could hardly be much more

Time simply carried on
but didn’t move that fast
youth looked towards the future
merely nodded at the past

Long years stretched way ahead
whole oceans-worth of time
so we idled and we squandered it
not imagining it a crime

All those yesterdays ill-spent
thrown in a casual heap
and not that much to show —
just some snapshots left to keep

Now the calendar turns swift
and the season’s growing old
the days swim past like fish
much too slippery to hold

And tomorrow won’t last long
but will vanish as before
since the clock has speeded up
hours sprint towards the door ...

It was yesterday — last week
I was young ... but wrinkles show
my perception’s on the blink
it all happened years ago