Rear-View Mirror Hauntings

Try as we might,

that which is behind,

never leaves us.

Familiar resolves abound.

Closure.

Moving on.

Don't live in the past.

Dream of the future.

However...

Objects in one’s rear view mirror

are closer than they appear.

Right view…

Road kill.

Past regrets.

Side roads never taken.

All off the right shoulder.

Center view…

Remembered signs.

Left and right.

Divided by motion pulling in each direction.

Forward.

Back.

Left view…

Pursuers coming fast.

Can't be left behind,

as if there's a first place,

even as the resisting blast of air

foretells of speeder's folly.

Whether of straight line or curved stretches of the journey,

questions leave us only for momentary blind spots,

our safety net of mirrors always at the ready.

Did we actually believe experience could be left behind,

forgotten,

sealed away,

distance-packaged neatly,

replete with c'est la vie ribbons?

As mind's eye darts from left to right and center,

life's permanent past is dimmable,

but only ‘til the high beams of mindfulness demand attention,

rendering squeezed eyes but temporary respite.

Might it be…

Between then and now,

mirrored likenesses of yesterday

are necessary flames of after-burn,

enabling the course chosen to proceed forward,

as both passing and stopping at new crossroads?

Arrested images of consciousness rise,

but for the instant need receding as quickly as now’s appearance,

never letting us forget the present’s need for the previous,

the future.

Yes…

Try as we might

hauntings in our rear-view mirrors remain

closer than they appear,

especially the White House degeneracy tailgating us everywhere.