The Wake Of A Dream

I watched as the dream fell to earth Shot down by fate It fluttered in the breeze As if to catch one last gust of breath To carry it homeward But it was not to be. It landed in a field of barren hopes Quite inconspicuously Stirring the wasted years for a brief moment Before settling into the dust of oblivion. I toss the flowers where the tears have dried Trying to forget and trying to remember But time is not kind to the tombstone of regret The memories etched with such dramatic blade Fade like an epitaph too long exposed Till all sense and feeling is blurred An incomprehensible wash of wind and rain. (Previously published in Pittsburgh Quarterly Online, Jan.2000)