Partings

Those who stood close to you and were dear-
You will forget them in the flow of time, my friend,
Life's uneven road curves in and out
And suddenly they disappear beyond the bend-
Disappear as suddenly as first appeared.
Perhaps the darkness of the night swallowed them
While you came marching across the night.

Those who were once dear are today
Only faint memories of the mind:
Bodiless and immaterial phantoms of the heart.
The feeling dead leaves dry and rotting bones
But love cannot live on fond regrets.
If old love has now become a shadow of the past
Better dark oblivion hide it in darker shades.