rear view mirror

I took a drive today through the past. I literally did, went via the old routes i used to take, suddenly they seemed littered with memories. Every place has a person attached, things you did, things that happened. I could recollect a spot where i had a flat tyre once, the petrol pump we stopped at once cos everyone wanted to take a leak, the road that once was important cos of the person who lived there, the u-turn i took so often, the restaurant...

And now i think what was the hurry, why did i not stop at that gate more often when i could for now there isn't anyone to stop for. So busy in our own worlds we didn't think its important to spare those five minutes to say hello.

And you only realise this and miss them when you look in the rear view mirror, a faint memory of the figure standing where you last saw them...