This Time Last Year

This time last year
There were boxes
At the Center
of every room
Being filled with
Fifteen years of life.

On every street and
At every corner
A flurry of hellos
And Goodbyes
Flew into the air
Hungry magpies of the inevitable.

The days marched along
As good soldiers
Delivering us to a New Life
600 miles South.

For months everything was
New!
Shiny!
and
Assertive!
in its
Novelty.

Nearly twelve months gone by
The newness has faded like
Chintz left in the sun.
Pleasant
Nice
But slowly becoming invisible
And in this way
The Past reappears
In stark and devastating relief.

An impossible mirage.
Extant
And Unattainable.