Memories

Suddenly I felt lonely in the crowd,

As a distinct rumble grew loud.

An invisible hand chiseled in my head,

Monuments of things long past dead.

Things I thought I had outgrown,

And those I thought I need no more,

Those too that I had thrown ashore,

I could live without them I was sure.

Don't set free the birds I have caged.

Don't demolish the paths I have laid,

The towers I raised and the moats I placed.

Don't replace the memories I displaced.

I am better without the reminders,

Of the bad and worst of my blunders.

Bury the memories, smother their murmurs,

For I have no need of them, now nor ever.