Remembrance
This is a poem about looking back on your childhood, and the religious aspects of it.
Search the back of your mind,
Take back the memories,
Pull down the photo albums,
And turn on the cassettes.
Play back your life.
Look for yourself,
In misted windows of thought.
There!
Look!
That's you and your friends.
We remember that day.
You clapped and sang,
The young hearts beating.
Life was kinder then.
Turn away,
And feel pain again.
Younger now,
And that first sharp pang of jealously,
It burns you.
The TV plays back ancient spirits.
Sing along to the tunes,
The memoirs and reminisce.
Open your mouth,
And taste joy and laughter.
See yourself,
Alone again,
Sitting there, waiting for someone,
Who comes, unforeseen yet anticipated.
Let the tears come,
Choke back the pain,
But don't fall.
Give wine, give bread,
And receive them from your own hands.
Feast on the years,
Take yourself by the hand,
And, with your own help,
Burn away the clutter that fills your life.
The notes, the papers, the silent images,
Of long dead people you want back.
Learn to live.
Learn to cry.
Learn to praise.
Learn to die.
But never forget what you were.
Now close the books,
Turn off the cassettes,
And put them on the shelves of your mind.
But do it with reverence.
Always remember,
To never forget.
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