LIfe's Album

I – Life's Album

Turning pages in the life's album,
my mind drifts to times now long past,
Images snatched of other souls,
companions of a space once shared.

Most are wisps of morning fog,
scattering in the days of latter life.
Remembered in fragile fragments,
imperfect recollection of long ago.

Not all are sequestered to this fate,
excused by a mind fading by the day.
There is one that haunts my memories,
lovely spirit of a past still seen.

II – Fay Beauty

She was fay beauty personified,
nature's pinnacle of living grace,
still innocent by life's measure,
yet wise enough to express herself.

I longed to be by her side,
with my feet of clay and graying hair.
Even then I had seen my share of life,
the journeyman past his prime.

The tunes of old were the lure
for two disparate souls then alone,
abandoned by life to the sides
and brought to the floor for the dance.

III – Days of Lore

To my mind the tune will not return,
lost to the turning of the wheel,
but clearly I now see her face
and feel her body close to me.

These phantoms remind me of our place,
that I could never possess one as fair as this,
only to borrow and remember my youth.
To this end dance was my respite.

Not once but twice, and many more,
we danced as two who relished life.
The songs swept us in their wake,
two persons who shared a time.

IV – Present Day

Now she is as old as I was in those times of lore,
the years have moved and we have aged.
Her children echo who she once was,
they now innocent by life's measure.

I no longer dance as I once could,
life has stolen that indulgence,
it matters little at this elder age,
yet still I linger on life's album.

I may be sequestered by inability,
and yet my soul is fond of life,
inspired by the one in my memories,
lovely spirit of a past still seen.

© 2015, Sean Green. All Rights Reserved.

I don't know about other writers of poetry, but I am inspired by the music I listen to while writing my poetry. The poem “Life's Album” was authored while listening to Brett Anderson. The influence has created a work part ballad, with lots of sentimental emotion. “Life's Album” is a poem about an old man's past memories. In those memories he remembers when he danced with those far younger than him. I am that man now, fully appreciating the shared dances with people half or more my age. We experience moments of appreciation, enjoying the skill and energy of the dance. One day I will be the other man, remembering the youthful partners of my times of lore.