Backwards in Time 1-9 by Citizen One

Photos by S. Mutt

20 pages, 2004

Epilogue

Falling star or firefly
Hard to say
This summer sky
Could be anything you want
Carolina Maine Vermont
I am happy here with you
Mid July, Kalamazoo
I am fine with mysteries
Fireflies
Old birch trees

Backwards in Time 3 — July 17, 2003

I remember my grandmother's house
Days when I'd play sick
And run away from home

When I was very small
She would pick me up in the mornings
And ride me in the basket of her bicycle
Past the “Bad Luck House”
And the school
Sometimes we would stop and pick
Flowers in the park

I got too big for her basket
And one day it seems I was riding
My own bicycle to her house

As I grew taller and stronger
I still seemed to find my way to her house
When times got rough

She always had fresh bread
Her studio smelled of turpentine
Always something being built or dismantled
And I mirrored my life
After her steadfast independence
And unfailing strength

Backwards in Time 4 — July 17, 2003

Tough Girls
Always act real tough
But something had to bother them once

Tough boys
Always ready for a rumble
But once were crying in their mother's arms

Crying for attention
Crying to scare away the boogie man
Crying and running
From their mothers' arms
Still crying

Life stands still

Listen well and the world can comfort
Can wrap us in the warmth of her
Sighing bosom
Sighing at our silly circling and gnashing

There is no where else to go
Circlers have glimpsed and stopped
Tethered by the elephant's string

One more step
And all bonds could be broken