-- The Past --

John Herlihy

The past is no more,

Yet still there to live.

Spent on time’s shore,

Yet still there to give.

The past from whence,

Gone without a trace.

The future to whither,

Staring us in the face.

The past is certain,

Known what happened.

The future uncertain,

Unknown what will happen.

Some live in the past,

The present being stark.

Vivid memories that last,

Upon wings of the lark.

The past but a dead flower,

That bloomed only to wither.

A vapor once as an hour,

That in the mind comes hither.

The past can be tempting,

Yet we can never go back.

Only in the mind lamenting,

What we can never take back.

We walk into the future,

We leave the past behind.

The past has no future,

Only a figment of the mind.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Wednesday 5 October 2022