Living in the past, learning from the present: A poem 

Another pebble swallowed by time’s lake 

A day gone yonder in dusk’s wake 

Stare at the stars that to the skies are glued 

And think of childhood’s warming burning wood 

I am wedded to picture-frames of the past 

The melancholy at happy seasons that couldn’t last 

Memories are a river to draw from and dip in 

But they run away into the ocean of age’s din 

Molten wax hardens on the candlestand of wisdom 

Adulthood’s lifeless idols of materialism are no freedom 

For failed ambitions are painful like a sore tooth 

When wants are many, I remind myself to go barefoot 

How blood from disillusionment emulsifies innocence’s dew 

That every fresh storm shatters windowpanes fixed anew 

Can rancour pile up when dreams whittle down to a few? 

The lesson I keep learning is to retain grace in full view