​Fly to Yesterday

 

We landed at home just before leaving Asia.

Going backward in time, what would I change?

The stranger whose smile I did not return?

The moment of wonder I failed to embrace?
 

Or maybe not change, but relive the joys.

A caress from my wife while waiting in lines.

Laughing children, whose fears were still future.
 

When we started the trip, we skipped a day.

Could it have been when my young niece had passed?

If so, then would she still be with us?
 

And now that I'm home, which time should I cherish?

The past with its script I can no longer change?

The future whose outcome I still can affect?

​

Or maybe the present, where I now reside

With my welcoming dog, whose full-body wag

and leaking excitement remind me that now

Is enough, a respite, and reflection on all

That has been and will be, what a gift, to be here

To embody the only story that is me.
-                                                            

                          by Matt Turley / Dec.2024

This occurred to me on a flight home from Southeast Asia.