on the other side of memory

on the other side of memory

on the other side of memory lies that which others remember
to see the fragments that remain as if there are any left at all
the smiling crying and goodbyes sparks held deep in an ember
as life flickers in the aging brain resisting the efforts to recall
what was and what is not today with youth blooming into age
the child the boy the man became in a simmering slow stew
as days of pleasure days of play refuse to turn to the last page
inside to outside to stay the same immersed in a strange brew
the negatives of faded photographs produce new sharp images
crystal clear and yet uncertain of both these faces and names
sent down time’s river on log rafts carrying thieves and sages
the cards dealt as the dice strain assigning doubts and blames
to separate the wheat from chaff carefully counting each grain
blown upon a wind as bullets strafe subtracting each final gain