Night Train To Berlin Extract

I write upon the page Words plucked from the air The clarity of the moment passes My words falter, fade and disappear Return a moment later Vibrant with life Razor sharp and crystal clear, The words of an old man Half awake half asleep The meandering, ambling words of an old man Drifting in and out of consciousness Tripping over himself and falling onto the page, I sleep in the silence of a dream More restless than the night More vivid than the day And waken to a flood of memories A torrent of voices shouting and screaming Inside my head The haunted ghosts of yesterday return Like vengeful demons resurrected from the dead, And memory is more transparent In the light of here and now All that is and is not The present and hereafter Are conceived in the moment Flashes of inspiration The lights of a city in lockdown And the absentee soldier asleep on the park bench, Elusive ideas are born, run wild and escape into night The body grows old and tired While the mind exalted above the boundaries Of time and space Elevated to a new dimension A heightened sense of awareness Whereby one is conscious of consciousness But free from attachment Free from doubt, fear, hopelessness and despair One who greets death with a broad smile As though meeting an old friend After a long absence, And the joy of life abounds everywhere Beautiful in the spring Like a flower in first bloom Bright and vibrant with colour Sweet scented on the fragrant air Standing proud, noble and dignified In the green garden of youth... W.A CHOLT. Copyright Fergal O Reilly. 2020 17/7/20