Room for Regret

Plastic flowers
on a mantelpiece
with ivory elephants
where a clock once chimed
each quarter hour
of a best forgotten time
where aging memories
of children playing
are revived
by fading pictures
on an angry wall
boxed in by banalities
and routine activities
distracted by voices
that echo inside
the mausoleum of the mind
while yesterday lingers
like an unwelcome guest
where only
the plastic flowers are fresh.