Dear memories, I can't decide
if you are friend or foe.
Whether I can let you stay with me,
Or somehow force you to go.
One minute I feel the warmth you provide,
the glimpse back into better times.
The next I feel your sting cut deep,
pressing hot tears to fill my eyes.
The aftertaste brings the lump to my throat.
Remembering has a high cost.
The sting is re-tasting, re-feeling, re-living...
The pain, the hurt, and the loss.
Mingled inside treasured thoughts
of the past,
Is always that bite
that those times couldn't last.
The grief of the loss
is revisited here.
The shadow of loved ones
who no longer appear.
So memories, I can't decide
if you are friend or foe.
Whether I can let you stay with me,
or somehow force you to go.
But when I can't remember,
that is painful too.
When fractured pictures tease my mind
And I can't remember you.
When I lose the sound of your sweet voice.
When I forget the way you smiled,
And the warmth found in your hugs,
All trapped by haze within my mind.
But this, my hope, is still!
That memories on earth
don't need to be consuming.
For in Your plan You will,
Our Heavenly Father be.
And tune our hearts
the more each day
to think on eternity.
