The Simple Past

Back in the late sixties,
my family lived in a tiny little house
in Atlanta.
I can picture it in my head...
the furnishings
and all of our accumulated belongings
would probably have fit in
a very small truck.
The glass dish pictured above
was a wedding present
and one of the few treasures
that decorated the simple coffee table
of my youth.
The small black and white tv
had rabbit ear antennae
and picked up only two or three stations
at most.
But I can remember
astronauts walking on the moon
on the screen of that set.

Young families don't tend to start
with such simple furnishings these days.

It seems like most folks
drown in clutter and technology
and credit card bills.

Isn't it strange
that some part of me
longs for that first house
that simple kitchen
that dearth of clutter
that young family just starting out.

Maybe I'm just old enough
to begin to understand
why hospice patients of advanced age
spend so much time
remembering their childhoods.

Maybe I'm just wise enough
to begin to see
that less is really more.

Maybe.