Yesterday

My heart, it slowly burns,
and sings a song of yesterday,
But seems to have forgotten
its true words along the way.
The melody that it first heard
could quell all fear and doubt,
Though now it seems the life of it
has somehow faded out.

But oh! the notes we used to reach
could soar beyond the stars.
The tempo, timbre, pitch, and key,
the notes upon the bars
Could cultivate a kind of peace,
despite our scrapes and scars.

The song has lost its luster,
the vocalist falls silent,
And in the quiet, rising thoughts
reject the light, defiant.
The heart whose beat propelled the tune
has slowed and now lies still,
Yet still it bleeds, enough for life,
but stagnant, unfulfilled.

Throughout the years, the heart could hear
the beat of those surrounding
And with their help, it yet survives
with hope of life rebounding.
So now I must continue on,
till once again complete,
Returning as the songbird
who once swept you from your feet.

One day, we'll sing with joy again,
our souls again will meet,
Meanwhile surviving with a heart
that bleeds, but doesn't beat.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading!

Reviews

[John the Baptist]

Down but not quite out is what I see as the theme of this one. The speaker comes across as one who in youth may have been an idealist, but now, having experienced the shocks and knocks of life, has lost much of the ebullience of those early years. Still, I don't quite see him as despairing; he does believe something can yet be salvaged. True, he hasn't yet found a way to do that, but he is still looking.

[Joseph Newcomb]

Pretty much nailed it there. This was motivated by personal circumstance, but I tried to write it ambiguously so that it could apply to anyone. There was actually a quote that planted the seed of thought for this one, which reads, "To love someone is to learn the song in their heart, and sing it to them when they have forgotten it." Thank you for reading!