Rearview Mirror

Rearview Mirror

A Cowboy Poem by Alan Nafzger

By the time you figure out what really mattered most,
it’s usually three exits back and fading like a ghost.
You see it in the mirror getting smaller as you go,
and the gas tank’s almost empty and the legs don’t want to slow.

I chased a lot of things that looked like matters in the light —
deals and pride and being right and winning every fight.
And the things I should have chased were standing by the door,
patient as the good Lord and not asking anymore.

The rearview mirror’s honest in a way the windshield ain’t,
the windshield shows you where you’re going all ambitious and quaint,
but the mirror shows you what you left and how it looked from here —
and most of what I left behind was worth more than my career.

Drive slower than I did and stop the truck from time to time,
get out and stand beside the thing that matters while it’s prime.
Because by the time it’s in the mirror you are too tired and too far,
and what mattered most is just a speck behind a moving car.

By the time you figure out what really mattered, it’s usually sittin’ in the rearview mirror… and you’re too tired to turn around.

I’m Alan Nafzger. Appreciate ya!

Last Updated on April 11, 2026 by Alan Nafzger