Photographic Memories

The mind is an ocean, vast and deep,
Where silent, waking shadows creep,
And thoughts drift by like ships of light,
Upon the endless sea of night.
It is a loom of gossamer thread,
Spellbound by sunlight, hope is bred,
Weaving the tapestry of days
In bright hues and a winding maze.

Within this quiet, vaulted hall,
The memories gather, stand, and fall.
A sudden scent, a fading song,
Can bring the distant years along,
Rebuilding worlds of joy and tears,
Across the bridge of vanished years.
The past is never truly gone;
It lives within the inward dawn.

And oh, the castles we can build,
With chambers by the starlight filled!
We soar on wings of pure design,
To touch the edges of the divine,
To paint the sky with whispered dreams,
And sculpt the mountains, shape the streams.
No gravity can hold us bound,
When in the mind we wander round.

Yet shadows dwell within this space,
A quiet, often lonely place.
The doubts will whisper in the dark,
And blow upon a dying spark.
The mind can be a stormy sea,
Where thought is bound, and thought is free,
A tempest raging, fierce and loud,
Concealed behind a quiet shroud.

I kissed the rain when tempests cleared,
And brought the lucid sight had neared.
A gentle breeze of reason blows,
And soothes the mind in sweet repose.
We sit upon the sandy shore,
And watch the waves forevermore,
Observing every thought that crests,
Until the weary spirit rests.

It is a galaxy of thought,
By unseen hands so deftly wrought.
A universe of shade and shine,
At once both human and divine.
To muse within this quiet mind,
Is the greatest journey we can find—
A boundless realm, forever free,
The mirror of eternity.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2026

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Etgen-Baker Avatar
June 11, 2026 at 4:30 PM
beautiful at so many levels--imagery and rhyme scheme but your message left me breathless at the end. Well penned. Faving.
Kelii Kekaula Avatar
June 11, 2026 at 6:43 PM
Answers to our conclusive thoughts, thank you.
Smith nee Howarth Avatar
June 8, 2026 at 9:22 PM
Loved the flowing imagery. It is amazing how a simple song, a smell, or maybe a word can jog the computer that's our memory to recall a past we thought we had lost.
Kelii Kekaula Avatar
June 9, 2026 at 2:44 PM
We are beholden to our past, for therein lies our true nature to better ourselves, thank you ~ William
M  Avatar
June 7, 2026 at 5:03 AM
Absolutely beautiful William! The rhyming is sooo good! I really enjoyed it! Debx
Kelii Kekaula Avatar
June 8, 2026 at 1:28 PM
You are appreciated, Deb, with extended courtesies ~ William
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