Lately I've forgotten names
of friends I've known for years,
and sadnesses creep over me
with an unquiet suddenness
I cannot explain.
Some brief anguish slants
across my sunburned face
and all I welcome now
are days of endless rain.

A letter came for me
   the other day,
yet I can't bring myself
   to open it.
No fear accompanies
   my reluctance -
just a reel of cryptic film
running through my mind
of things gone wrong,
loved ones lost,
times misspent.

All I have now are memories
of fleeting smiles
and frightened eyes,
of unsure lips
whispering quiet lies.

So I find myself lying still
on a floor,
waiting for a ceiling to drop
and make me move once more.