Memory and Reality (A Poem for Rachel Oesch)

Memory and Reality


The time came to say goodbye.
The years passed so fast.
Too fast.
One day it was all over.
Its coming was not unexpected.


A time was over.
An age had passed.
Onto the next phase.
Never forgetting this one.
Appreciating what it imparted.


How did this arrive?
Who said it would be like this?
No one.
The pain was anticipated.
Its intensity was not.


How long did this take?
Could it have been done differently?
Would one altered choice have changed things?
Are these thoughts vanity?
Heavens, no.


Memory lingers.
Glimpses of the past.
No longer real.
No matter the wish.
It doesn’t exist anymore.


There is now.
Reality is here.
Past is passed.
Like smoke from a fire.
It evaporated into the air.


And here we are.
Nowhere else to be.
Might as well enjoy the view.
It too will pass away.
Memory and reality are one.

We're going to miss you, Rachel.

C