- Forever Ago –

John Herlihy

Childhood now seems forever ago,

Summer forgotten in winter snow.

How to forget such a vital memory,

Childhood’s heart can only tender be.

How do we forget such days of bliss,

Left with fragments of what we miss.

My first true love: what was her name,

That I have forgot is a lingering shame.

Gone forever is my first day at school,

That’s where I learned the Golden Rule.

Hopes once held dear now become lost,

The edges of memory tinged with frost.

I once met a stranger who turned friend,

Things never last, there’s always an end.

We do live on the run, one city to another,

Different weather, alien lives and culture.

I never promised to stay just in one place,

Never felt the need to have only one base.

Then I met a girl, her face shone like a sun,

With smile and a touch, my heart was won.

As I fell in love with promise to settle down,

She had met another, I settled for a frown.

When I took my leave, I asked where to go,

No one answered, but that was forever ago.

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(c) John Herlihy January 2019