What these pictures hold
that these aging hands can not
is every hot wind the beat my brow when I tended my garden
and every refreshing breath of wind that blew at my back
to get me going again.

What these pictures hold
that these lips could not
is every refreshing sip of sweet lemonade tea
or every scalding cup of blasted black coffee.

What these pictures hold
that you could not
are the emotions that I felt
when I held her hand for the first time since I confessed my love
when I smelled her hair and nearly died from her perfume
Heavens Above!!
And when I nearly lost my mind with every nag she let free
but nearly lost my breath every time she said "Yes" to me.

What these pictures hold
that you wouldn't ever hope to hear
are the laughter of friends and their stupid jokes
all the fits of rage from all the annoying pokes.
You couldn't begin to explain the surmounting welt of pride
when you stepped into a fight
with the best brothers you could ever have, standing by your side.

What these pictures hold
is something that could not be so simply retold.
So go on and take a look
take a gaze into this old and withering book.
For I've lived a grand life
with no regrets to leave behind
It's for your sake that in my past
your own future
you'll make your own, and find.

For what these pictures hold
my dearest friends reading this now
is not an explanation of why I lived
but how.