The Face of the Past Is Friendly
by Nancy Starrels
Your life can begin
From this day forward
To welcome what you are
With more of you
Than walked beside me
In a past whose face you fear.
It may help you to know
I have met the past;
Its eyes are clear and blue.
I have held its hand in mine
And together we have climbed
Long flights of stairs
Where once you shivered
And I clutched at shaky banisters,
Afraid of nervous shadows.
I have been with the past long afternoons,
Sitting comfortably on porches.
We have talked intimately, gone forth
In all sorts of weather, quite unharmed.
No words of love have been spoken,
No decisions have been made,
But the face of the past is friendly,
Its eyes are kind and clear.
And here's a link to the not-for-profit Aesthetic Realism Foundation at 141 Greene Street, New York, NY 10012, where Nancy Starrels taught her historic class in photography, The Honoring Eye. The Aesthetic Realism Foundation has an exciting (and groundbreaking) curriculum in poetry, the visual arts, music, education, anthropology, and marriage, plus Special Dramatic & Musical Events, and every week public seminars (Thursday at 6:30 pm) and dramatic presentations (Saturday 8 pm).
