Caught in time

The faces of people
I've left behind
surround me,
at times when I feel
most low.

The memories,
of good times and bad,
swirl about me and taunt me
with echoes of
laughter and tears.

Sometimes I pull
their shadows around me
like a sepia-toned shroud
and let them hold me,
trapped in time.

Other times I can
cast them off
and shake loose
of the grip they have
on my past.