But that long ago
seems like yesterday
engraved
in the most vulnerable
part of the mind
etched
at the depth
of the most sensitive heart-
the past
is more than
the sum-total
of the present
it tears all else apart--

search if you must
dig into the hidden wells
of the long-distant past
murky under-currents
still spill into the now
in rage they often gush-

I was not careless
I never stepped
on the wrong side
of love but trapped
by her beauty capricious
how I struggled and tried
despite the pain to persuade
all my tears dropped into dust-

that long ago
now unmasked
even at my wintry years
I couldn't let go
drowned
in self-pitying tears.