Song Of An Aching Dream

Ah, to live eternally
Like the White Bristle Cone Pine trees
On the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada
5,000 years of age and beyond

To walk on soil untrodden by human 
See hidden things in caves
And deep canyons
Journey to distant lands
Discover new

Fly like birds in the air
Dive deeply into the depths
Of the Mariana Trench
In the heart of the Pacific Ocean

Rather! 
The drying of my flesh as the years fly
My skin wrinkling as autumn leaves
Hair thinning, eyes dimming
Flesh weakening
Breath fading!

To capture joy and never release
My hold
And share with every one 
I have ever loved 
And will love
Before the end 
Of this earthly experience

Rather!
Flesh cold lying in state
As with my beloved friends
And precious relatives 
I have beheld, touched and loved
Passed on
Turned to dust

Oh, if I had wings
To fly!
So poetically quoted
By one in pain

I would fly me,
My friends 
And all who thirst 
To life eternal plane
A wondrous, magical, loving place
That Dorothy once
Yearned for 
Beyond a rainbow

To lose that vexation
This futility on this earth
Of knowing the end must come

With that cruel end
That springs up 
That vanity, 
That emptiness,
That loneliness 

Of knowing, 
Of thinking about,
Of dreading
The end of days of this life

So inescapably mixed with good and bad
That forces me to 
Bitterly cry tears
By remembrance of every detail
Of memories I don’t want to lose,

Yet powerless, I am
Helpless to prevent 
And so forget, 
Forced to give up!

I dread the day I must let go
Of every memory 
Not the bad-
Only the good,
I ever had!

Reviews

[ReadsAtDances]

Really interesting poem! The beginning made me feel like it was taking me on a journey, and now I feel the need to travel! Memories are important things, ones that we never want to lose. I think this poem captures the importance of memory beautifully. Thanks for sharing this.