Treasured Days of Long Ago

Like a time capsule opened
centuries after the cornerstone
of a big brick building is laid,
I open the picture album
and wander through the past.

Absent are the yellowed scrolls;
rules laid down by long forgotten
town fathers who assure us
that our town is modern,
cutting edge, ready to progress.

Far from dog eared or faded prints
of treasured days of long ago,
these photographs are recent
and show portraits of young love,
captured but not everlasting.

Looking at smiles and faces
I remember those happy days,
and think how forever can be finite,
and how gold tarnishes quickly,
but that day was heaven to me.

Maybe the first one doesn't last,
as I see in pages from the past.
It sure doesn't seem long ago.
I put the old photo album away.
Thank God for what I have today.