Memories Poem by Kevin Rice

From time to time
I open up the box of keepsakes
Abandoning the customary round
To browse the printed memories
Of my mum and dad

And in the faded sepias I see
Snatched fragments of your lives together
I witness the youthful girl
Before the day of veil and vows
And future expectations,
So too with the honest lad,
In casual attire,
Filled with tomorrow's dreams

I hold the cherished record in my hands
Of when your solitary dreams and wishes
Composed their pathways to a common end
Crafting a new and tender serenade

Now in the later portion of my days
I see myself as you were then
and wonder at the comedy of life.
We come. We sing. We dance
And then depart
And leave behind
The notes and lyrics
Of another song

Your brimming lifetimes,
The constant portion of your days and years,
Were but a moment passing.
For though we touch the stars we are as grass
Withering silently towards tomorrow
But, oh! the lovely, joyous days of growing
Blowing in whatever winds may come