The past   etched in time's memory

engraved in my mind-scape  

     faces     places

colours.   sounds    smells.   moments



undercurrents of emotions

of feelings

of images

glimpses of joy  

    of sorrow

of laughter

of tears

of love

of tenderness

of resolutions

of doubts

of regrets

of remorse

of loneliness

of what had been

  or could have been

everything had evaporated like dreams



but all seems so dim now     neural debris  

weakening dendrites

the past is but shadows.      an illusion

  a shadow-play  



the essence was then --

most memories have vanished or faded

at the present hour

the past      what are its uses  ?

what are its abuses ?



time measures all          swallows all  



it takes no sides         neither as a friend or foe



the past  I was  

the present I am

the future I don't know