One spring day I remember
We stopped by the arbor,
Watched lotus flower bloom.

That day was brief and swift,
When sun set like molten gold,
We lost our way home.

Our boat ferried into lotus fields,
Sky turning somber and cold.

"Row the boat through!" I cried,
Startled herons and gulls flew.
​

Air soaked with yellow heat.
leaves shaking the dark-green dread,
Silence on the narrow street,
Where our fathers lost the battle,
There! The firing squad is loud
They cried to history and fear
They cried to death and uncertainty

Such villainous visage-
On a child’s face.
Eyes so innocent-
Yet a hideous look- flashes

“They are not one of us!”
He cries-
A thousand figures pointing
To the wrongfully judged-
He stands among them-
One of one thousand

On the unbesmirched hill,
Let's slide down the snowy *****.
In the warmth that wrapped the wild,
Home stood alone.

Do not remember past things that bring regret
Memories, caught between the unborn and dead
Perish and fade— all men are destined to forget

Byzantium sacked, Malacca discovered yet
The golden coffin buried deep at world’s end
Do not remember past things that bring regret

Around and around the monument of intellect
Raised the holy fire, like stars ascend
Burning (all men are destined to forget)

Paramount of new earth the oceans beset
Storms crush men racing to the ****** land
Forget, forget those things that bring regret

Aleppo, Nanjing, Warsaw. Nothing left to recollect
Of all things between the unborn and dead
Do not remember past things that bring regret

At day’s closing, the roads direct
Travelers to the mirage at horizon’s end
Do not remember past things that bring regret
Memories fade— all men are destined to forget.