The past exists no more
Yet it hangs about like a ghost
Often haunting us with regret
We want to right the wrongs
We want another chance
to do things over
that truly trouble us
but we are powerless
to its demands

The present is this very moment
And it must compete
with the apparitions of yesterday
that crowd into our thinking,
like smoke and mirrors,
and rob us of this precious instant
of time that we truly have right now

The future is an unknown horizon
Yet we either look forward to it
with great expectations
or worry ourselves into thinking
that it will overwhelm us
or that it will disappoint us  
It is not ours yet to possess
Yet like the ghosts of the past
it has no business
taking hostage of our thoughts
We want to have control of it
when it is not anywhere in reach