Classic Poem

I watched as the dream fell to earth
Shot down by fate
It fluttered in the breeze
As if to catch one last gust of breath
To carry it homeward
But it was not to be.

It landed in a field of barren hopes
Quite inconspicuously
Stirring the wasted years for a brief moment
Before settling into the dust of oblivion.

I toss the flowers where the tears have dried
Trying to forget and trying to remember
But time is not kind to the tombstone of regret
The memories etched with such dramatic blade
Fade like an epitaph too long exposed
Till all sense and feeling is blurred

An incomprehensible wash of wind and rain.


(Previously published in Pittsburgh Quarterly Online, Jan.2000)