Hope To Die Poem by L MILTON HANKINS

Bereft of soul this mind and body
Long-lived and lately dispossessed
Among remains of bygone mem'ries
In dusty old albums laid to rest.

Do not speak of fonder morrows
Nor tempt me with your foolish dreams
For youth can never know what lies
Ahead, I think, or so it seems.

I remember days so long ago
When I through veils the future saw
When hopes were high, were full of joy.
Old and anguished men beyond the pall

Cried out to warn me of days to come
When time would no longer be mine to buy
And helpless I would lay me down
And hope to die; and hope to die.