the poet made his way through the fog of memory trying to find refuge in a phrase that hides from him each day each waking hour and now he has found it in his dreams it reveals hazy clues in glimpses of his past life unfolding through back room windows familiar faces that he met briefly or perhaps just shared a smile it lives within us all and begs for our attention the past is the sum of what we are keep it close allow it space and your dreams will write the poem for you