Maria on the Wings of Time

By Ernie McCray

Prologue: I’ve had so many of what one might call moments in my life. Come from behind victories on playing courts and fields. Ovations on stage. Rich surprises. This list goes on and on. And now I find myself in a wonderful moment in time, enjoying a relationship with an incredible woman when, at one time, such a reality seemed unlikely for me. This is a poem I wrote for her 70th birthday party. Hey, I have a 70 year old foxy squeeze! How cool is that?

Feeling my way around
in a new place in life.
Had been to some dark places
had lost a wife,
my soul-mate, my queen,
in a haze, wondering and wandering,
how to move on to other things.
Looking at the world with tears in my eyes.
Breathing out.
Breathing in.
And there was fluttering
and in came
Maria on the wings of time.
Maria on the wings of time.

She, too, stood in sadness
on soft and shaky ground,
so much pain etched in her face.
Gone was her man,
her lover, her king,
leaving her to ponder, in her suffering,
how to make her heart sing again.
Looking at the world, like me, through blinding tears.
Breathing out.
Breathing in.
And there was fluttering
and she came to me.
Maria on the wings of time.
Maria on the wings of time.

It’s been a long journey.
So many paths taken.
Lives lived, promises made.
Lovers adored with passion,
life like sweet dreams.
How could such bliss ever cease to exist?
But our loves drifted away
on very sad days.
And we knew not what to look for in our lives anymore,
just breathing out
and breathing in
neither of us knowing
that we were true
lovers waiting for each other in the dark,
that lovers of the world
are never far apart.
Lovers of the world
are never far apart.
Oh, I learned such things
when I heard a fluttering
and she came to me.
Maria on the wings of time.
Maria on the wings of time.

I was looking blindly,
leaning against frenzied torrential winds,
trying to recall the familiar places I’d been,
my world so dizzying.
Breathing out.
Breathing in.
And there was fluttering
and she came to me,
in all her loveliness
in this needy time in our lives,
awakening my heart and soul
with a love so divine.
Once again I can enjoy a love that is mine.
Maria on the wings of time.
Maria on the wings of time.