Saturday 3 March 2012

I WALK WHERE MEMORIES WALK

I walk where memories walk

I trace their steps

Breathe their air

And before my very eyes performs

The life I once called mine.

Before the edges were worn away,

The fringes tattered,

The hopes and dreams not yet conceived

So could not die

And all was hope and longing:

Was this me? Where did we go?

Have all left home so soon?

Scattered to the heavens by the

Centrifugal force called life

That honors no adhesion?

The chill of drafts drops my gaze

Away from all that was hidden:

A cursory glance,

A dismissive shiver,

A quick step onward in life.

I leave the memories there to walk

Alone, no steps retraced;

The air is still,

The eyes are closed to all performances:

The life I now call mine.


Bio:

Rev. Judith Mensch served as a pastor in the United Methodist Church. She began writing poetry in the last years of her life, as a way of responding to and coping with breast cancer. She passed away in 2003.


3 comments:

  1. Lots of good things in this fine poem. I was particularly taken by:

    Centrifugal force called life

    That honors no adhesion?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great blog, Robert!
    Cheers from Argentina.
    HD

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful, nice blog. Regards, E*

    ReplyDelete