Ruminations

Seldom does the darkness fall, In either lonely room or banquet hall That the memories purchased at Youth’s expense Come back to me as fair recompense. For when Time steals in with stealthy tread And alludes to the secrets that lie ahead- Pointing to the balance of what is left, My heart turns away feeling bereft. For those memories made, though truly held dear Through Time’s slow workings become unclear And their value then has changed somehow To a lesser worth of what they should be now. My heart in such moments of quiet reflection Is wont to succumb to introspection And to question the worth of those memories earned When the hands of Time have fatefully turned. Soon the longing creeps in for another chance To relive the days from the Past’s expanse, To live once again the days of yore And go back in time to the days of before. In so doing I think I would find The hidden source to some peace of mind. I would rewrite my future if the Past would allow To find the happiness I think I lack now. I’d want to relive my youth in splendor And make new memories more dear and tender; To relive my life the way I once thought And perhaps to find the things I once sought. But just as before I’d be back where I’d started: With Time stealing in and the Future departed, And the paths I chose to follow back then Would lead me to wonder all over again.