Retrospect
A poem by my father (1928-????)
Looking back at the many years gone by we may shed a few tears.
If doing that should get our attention,
If what we seem to remember brings to mind a lingering ember,
This may be a good time to mention
That memory can do strange things when from the past it slyly brings
Some long-buried happening to the fore.
It may have been a simple thing to which for some reason we cling
And continues to shake us to the core.
That’s the way our memory works, never know what mystery lurks
Under the busy workings of one’s mind
As we perform each daily chore, wise to what our memories store,
Quite oblivious to the daily grind.
Although the events of the day sometimes seem to get in the way
Of the things we feel should really matter,
We will make an effort to bring a final resolve to the thing
Which makes our many searching thoughts scatter.
Time may just be the culprit here, that seems to feed a little fear,
One more worry we will have to handle.
And when something is hard to find, due to clouds in our aging mind,
It is not helpful to light a candle.
Does it help then to shed a tear when we feel that sudden fear?
Action like that would make us blue.
We can take solace in the fact that we really don’t have to act,
If we remain to our own conscious true.
~Jim Jaqua, 5/18
