Lingering shadows, familiar places,

Afterthoughts resting in half-empty spaces,

Tear drops, broken stems in shattered vases,

Part-remembered, shallow faces,

Here does the memory fade,

And into the heart does fear invade,

For all the love once was made,

But since it was forbade.

Sweet smiles, open wings,

Beckoning waves, childhood swings,

Forgotten hours, unknown things,

Yielding crops in the springs,

Here does the memory fall,

And the feeling of never knowing at all.

Why did they bother to recall

When nothing ventures down the dark hall?

Withered roses, sad songs,

Right near the abyss belongs

All the agony that slow death prolongs

For a life never lived all along.

07/23/02