Palimpsest

Lucy & Her Diamonds

Why do I persist?

I seem inept at all the other 

Trades or endeavours known to man.

So, leaving a trail of destruction in my wake,

I do what I am best suited for:

Become a “Wordsmith” of a sort,

A very loosely defined sort,

Apprenticed to a master

I can never please.

I studied at the wrong knee,

I followed the wrong path,

I went astray.

I failed almost every challenge before me,

Gaining perhaps a few yards

And a precious nugget of experience

With each defeat.

So I can curry some favour in my balance

On my journey from cradle to grave

While still falling short of the goal.

All that long ago nonsense.

I must confess to some visions,

Something about Lucy and Diamonds.

I embraced them and they linger still.

But they begin to fade from memory

And into history.

Then into fable and then into lore.

Then they become tales to scare small children.

But Lucy and her Diamonds

Still endure.

I persist because I must.

Mourn what is gone,

Define what you want to see

Redefine what it is you see,

Repeat a reasonable number of times.

Then move on.

Waves of nostalgia 

Edging ever closer to my shore.

How soon will I be overtaken

And forever drowned?

A longing for the past 

Soon drowns us all

As the future foreshortens

And the past beckons with open arms

To draw you in, 

Surround you in a bubble 

To spend your remaining time

At peace with the trial

That lies ahead.

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