The Passage

Standing on the threshold of tomorrow
‘tween what’s been and what might be
I pause for a moment to find myself
both happy and sad with things I see

One eye looks forward with a nervous glance –
imagination lights the way
(It) reveals a thousand possible dangers
and just as many dreams
By chance and design,
left to fall wherever they may

Another eye’s drawn back with longing
and perhaps a hint of tear
To other times and people, too
who’ve come and gone in recent years

Time is quite the enemy…
strikes when you least suspect
Changes the seasons and unfortunately
the hearts of men
Contentment is fleeting,
only temporary at best

I see also a Spanish princess,
golden hair flowing soft and long
A princess I knew much too little in depth and time
our paths converged, then continued on

I dreamed she led me
“ ’twas her voice and hand in dreams, so true!”
But alas some dreams
have no time for romance
as I shall long remember
of this one, too

The heart is a lonely hunter
when it doesn’t know what it seeks
Life’s too short, sometimes too long
but the crossroads are many

And time moves slowly … inexorably … on.

(* The quote is from a poem by Antonio Machado)