Echoes travel my mind ways -
- you went first last time
- I sat in the middle last time
> - you got the wishbone last time.
I never knew the last time was the last time.

Had I known the last time I went fishing,
cast out, felt the crappie grab my purple worm,
set the hook and reeled in
admiring the fight in my fish,
I would have lingered longer
retrieving my bait and tossing my crappie
in the live well. I would have studied
every bank-side rock formation
every weather-beaten willow
every blackberry brier.

When I was a kid playing "Jacks"
I could yell, "Overs" and toss the Jacks again.

I did not know the last time I -
- baked Cinnamon Buns
- drove my Chevrolet Citation
- kissed my husband goodnight
would be the last time.

I am old and my heart yearns for "Overs."

Verna Lee Hinegardner
Hot Springs, AR