John-Ward Leighton

LIFE AND DREAMS

Photo ©Copyright by John-Ward Leighton: Life and Dreams
Crossing the Granville Bridge: ©Copyright by John-Ward LeightonDeath walks with me now
it was always there
but now I am more aware.
Neither friend nor foe
where there is life
death must go.
There is no forever
even if you are rich,
powerful, and clever.
There is no fit and unfit
when your number comes up,
there is no argument,
that’s it.
Now I drift on streams
of all sorts of wild
impossible dreams.
I talk to friends long passed
the dearly loved and the merely liked
and twenty-twenty is hindsight
and friends can be just a few
or many.
The sky is grey
and there is a chill
on the day.
I just walked over a bridge
that once tempted me to jump
that perfect click,
“You are my sunshine”
the bag lady sang
and that epiphany
saved me from diving into the creek.
I’m not the person from those days
I have changed in
oh so many ways.
I dream memories
and wonder how I got
from there to here
blundering into that black labyrinth
of dreams and primal fear.
If it was to end right now
would I beg for more time
to finish this poem and rhyme?
I am here so the time was granted
and I haven’t joined the ranks
of the dearly departed and barely lamented.
Fate
the thief of life
and harbinger of war and strife
grant me the gift of time
and more creative schemes
to fill my wretched
life and dreams.