Fleeting

Memories are the real proof of life.

 

S uccessful as a younger man
the grind became my home
and I — a conduit of worry
could I keep up the crazy pace

years spun wild as a top
around faster ever faster
life layering its patina
etched deeply in my face

suddenly — no longer young
now looking back from 76
I’ve known triumph — also tragedy
both have laid down heavy licks

I’ve borrowed bought — even stole
strayed through several shades of grey
but have I leveraged away my soul
just to play this fleeting game

I pray I’ll not end up an old man
gazing lonely out my window
trying hard just to remember
exactly how long it has rained

not sitting silent by the fire
lost in somber contemplation
wondering if all I lost
was worth what it was I gained

I gained my memories
huddled ’round me
sweet and still

I cherish each one dearly
for long as I can
I will

*

Happy Thanksgiving!
May you create a lifetime of memories this holiday season.

rob kistner © 2022

Poetry at: dVerse

 

42 thoughts on “Fleeting”

  1. I like this poem, Rob, sparse and thoughtful but not self-pitying. In fact, I liked those lines:
    wondering if all I lost
    was worth what it was I gained
    so much I’d have ended the poem there.

    1. That is precisely where I ended the original 2007 poem Jane, I added the addendum for this write — and I agree… it was unnecessary. 🙂 I just wanted to redirect the original to a bit more uplifting place — but I prefer my original.

  2. One of my favorites ~ Tower of Song! Sigh. Rob, your thanksgiving poem touched every emotion within me .. so many amazing lines. These especially touched me .. “wondering if all I lost was worth what it was I gained .. so —— if I am not to be he then whom is it that I am.”
    Love,
    Helen

  3. I love the thought of being those memories… and I think the older you are the more you are those memories.

  4. What a genuine write! Thank you for sharing your heart and Happy Thanksgiving <3

    "I am my memories
    that huddle ’round me
    soft and gentle
    deep and still"

    "some blessings came easily
    some were a tricky plight
    I lovingly embrace each one
    they are my heart’s delight"

  5. Happy Thanksgiving, Rob, to you and yours.
    May those memories wrap you in their embrace as you move ahead. 76 is young in my book as my mom is 92 and still full of vitality.
    I loved your poem, my friend. Stay healthy. ??????????

  6. You chart the life progress I think we all go through – our common experience, yet which each of us must (and can only) experience as an individual. How we respond to it is perhaps the crucial thing. I like your new ending for this piece. At 84, having known triumph and tragedy of my own, I find there is much joy to remember, to temper the inevitable sorrow. I’m glad to still be alive to remember it all!

      1. Not to sound like a cliché, but really, where does the time go? Hope I make it to 83 Rosemary, and I hope you enjoy many more. I just watched the Elton John farewell concert. Elton is only 2 months younger than I, but he still sounds damned good.

  7. “trying hard just to remember
    exactly how long it has rained”… That resonates. I think everyone can relate to those feelings. Beautifully, if poignantly, put.

  8. Indeed. Couldn’t have said it better myself. I especially relate to those last lines. And I have lived this one as well: “..the grind became my home/
    and I — a conduit of worry..” only with age do we learn how to let all that go.

  9. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Rob. This poem asks questions many of us have. Poignant, but with hope.

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