I wake to a cloud,
The imagined memories coming back,
So lovely they seemed in my sleep,
Such a nightmare when viewed by the truth of daylight,

Trying to shake the feelings,
I look to the steaming water to wash away the dark lies,
The flowing shower clears my mind,
But only to ponder all the freer,

The cloud has cleared to reveal the shadow,
A shadow of memory,
A shadow haunting all who have experienced pain,
Regret and betrayal are in its smoky tendrils,

Distraction is sought in activity, work, company,
But at the end of the day, darkness again consumes my senses,
Nostalgia wears a seductive smile,
And the temptation to recollect cannot be quelled,

Rather than run from the reminiscence,
I feed the shadow in my mind,
For a brief moment I give in,
I remember without hindering,

An eclipse of my soul,
I allow the dark to overwhelm,
I bleed from closed wounds,
I shed tears of the past.