I'm really surprised where this poem took me. I incorporated not only the imagery from "every time i look back", but also the science images from Ricky's take on "light the fire".

every time i look back v1

They say

light is faster

than any thing

faster than bird flight

(your flight)

faster than sound

(your footsteps receding)

faster than wind

(your hair whipping your face

that day at Monterey)

They say

light is faster

than any thing

that by the time

I turned to

see your beautiful

back, shapely winged scapulas

tapering to a graceful

violin waist broadening to

a sensuous hip you laughingly

called, "birthing hips", the

ones that were to birth

nothing but escapes

They say

light is faster

than any thing

that by the time

I caught glimpse of

your fleeting retreating

it was not you, but a

fleeting photonic memory

of a shape once you.

They say

light is faster

than any thing.

Faster than your leaving.

Faster than my inaction.

Faster, my love, than culpability.