New heroes

Backwards swirled time and tide

As the dust and cobwebs flew

To show the green and orange inside

With rusted tent pegs trying to hide

Ashamed they're no longer new.

How can three decades seem

So near and crisp and true

Sharper than a razor's gleam

Closer than last night's dream

Fresher than the morning dew?

Some memories don't grow cold

Shuffling back to 85 or 86

When we ran the flag up the pole

Never thought of growing old

And sometimes took a risk.

The tales the old tent has seen

Are woven now in family myth

When fields were emerald green

And we went playing in the rain

Knowing all possibilities exist.

Now we unfold the tent again

And watch the apex grow

The worn flysheet's sturdy mend

Will surely last a year or ten

As it searches for new heroes.