A book of recollections
A book to reminisce
A book to remember
A book some never will miss

Pictures appear
Like ghosts from the past
Photos of faces
Frozen in time
Forgotten memories
Painfully exposed
Written epitaphs
Buried In pages
Full of graffiti
Scribbled on bathroom walls

Solemn reminders
Of youth
And those that shared
Insecurities
For things learned
That never really mattered

Haunting
Hallowed halls
Shadowy recalls
Of undefined moments

Pages that whisper
Return again
To a season in time
Remember when

Roses were red
Violets were blue
Sugar was sweet
And so were you

.

Youthful play
Youthful thoughts
Lead to a longing for an asking for
Things that our imaginations sought
When we were told long ago
That wishing would make it so

So we wished for love
So we wished for happiness
So we wished for health
So we wished for wealth

But wishes only happen when we believe
Wishes only happen when we’re certain in our heart
Wishes only happen when we concede
A wish is never make-believe

So if you believe as many do
That wishes you make always come true
For no one should never-ever forsake
Wishes we will always make
For wishes are only the dreams we have
When we are awake

As I count the years I’ve left behind
The moments and memories that forever entwine
Feelings that cannot be fully defined

I stare at the past with many mistakes and regrets
Some easily remembered some difficult to forget
Flashes of days gone by
That glance before my very eyes
Leave me spell-bound and hypnotized

Times I desire to rearrange
Things that can never be changed
Loves that are forever lost
Dreams that have long last fallen apart
Secrets I keep hidden at the bottom of my heart

I’ll bear them with me as I journey on
A reminder of how my life has gone
I’ll continue my existence with no struggle or strife
As I start to enter into the autumn of my life

***********************************
“The days are long
The years are short”
My Dad
(1908-2001)

Pieces and bits of dreams
I have scattered
Throughout my life
Never to be realized
Never to be seen
Pieces of dreams
I hold in my hand
Fall to earth
Like grains of sand
Have left me with only feelings
To deep to understand

Broken dreams
I cannot mend
Broken dreams
Have left me to pretend
That the dreams
That have fallen to my feet
Are the same dreams
That will only repeat
When love returns
Once again

To confess
Is forgiveness
To repent
Is humility
To break the bonds
Is to free the spirit
To believe
Is to release the darkness

To dream
Is to capture a rainbow
To love
Is to unlock the heart
To live
Is to create a moment
To die
Is to awaken the soul

I count them one by one
And when I am done
I count them again
And when I’m through
My thoughts to gather
I can’t remember when they didn’t matter

     Desires and wants wrapped in expectations
Drops that flow without hesitation
Musings from the past that never go away
Unfinished melodies that refuse to play

One day ends another begins
My thoughts encumbered
And when all my days are numbered
That’s the day I stop counting

 Bitterness bites
Snaps at the heart
Out of control
Tears you apart

Rooted in the soul
Bitter for sweet
Once in control
Its purpose complete

Sharp as a sword
Piercing asunder
Hearts own bitterness
No small wonder

Hatred
Anger
Jealously
Resentment
Misplaced contentment

Left unrestrained
The heart doesn’t mend
Sweet for bitter
Or a bitter end
***********
“Each heart has its own bitterness
And no one else can share its joy”
Proverbs(14:10)

           “See to it that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many” Hebrews(12-15)

Imaginations drift
To my inner fantasies
Wild sensations
That transcend reality

Deep fantasies
Out of control
Mental images
That reach my very soul

Phantasm
Figment of the mind
Recondite impressions
Profoundly left behind

My mental reservations
My mental imagery
Yet
How bizarre it is
To always find you
In my fantasies

This is my song
Its rhythm its rhyme
In three-quarter time
An imaginary song
Twelve bars long
Played in the key of “D”
A sweet fragrant melody

Its lyrics printed in time
Forever played out in my mind
My unforgettable melody
No one takes it from me
Thieves may steal
I shall never reveal
The song of my youth
*************************
“The music in my heart I bore
Long after it was heard no more”
William Wordsworth

Dreams are never promised
Desires never claimed
Left only with expectations
Many linger many fade
Lost forever
Reaching for the sky
You stare and wonder
And never know why

Wounded dreams
Dreams denied
Sent to repose
And there they lie
In the valley of dreams
Where dreams go to die