Memoirs and Reflections

 

Music sustains and surrounds us; colour

in memories dropped on street corners

as swift blanking years suffer ruinous palour,

sloughed gentle and silent as graveside mourners.

 

How can I, with clarity, recall without anguish

early times so demanding attention?

Can a Rachmaninoff' rhapsody grant a wish

that may lead me towards my redemption?

 

This guerdon is not gifted lightly

in this old age of fell regrets,

yet it may suffice to drink star-shine brightly

from this planet's surface, as the slow sun sets.

 

Fly sleek and serene across vermilion skies,

watch parades of years march before you;

ahead, the past is stripped of surprise,

now a mere doorway to walk through.

 

Need further incentive? Something more?

To foster understanding is its own reward;

education not ignorance, peace not war,

and the pen really is mightier than the sword.