Memory's Command Poem by Biff McGuire

When my conscience takes command, and lets the fog of guilt
get the best of me
I try to recall why my back’s at the wall and I’m saved
by my old friend “memory”
When the thoughts of good times long ago come to mind;
for awhile and it feels so good
Till I hear what you said, that makes love lay so dead
and I wake and forget that we said we still could
We talk and we think there’s a progress of sort,
in the way that we’re getting along
Then with just a few words from the well of distrust,
the sweetest of poems becomes such a sad song
My old friend memory will not let me down when it all comes
to starting again
He recalls all your faults taking place of the best things
And turns into a “two” what has always been “ten”
It’s the strongest feeling I’ve never had
But we try to revive it once more
At a door looking in, at loves chain that’s so thin
With its links scattered all round the floor
Like a broken record, it all seems in vain and
It’s easier just “not to try”
Your lips and your touch, they just don’t mean as much
I hear only the echoes of love’s goodbye