I Remember When

I REMEMBER WHEN



I remember when my world was young and skies above were blue.

The air was fresh, the sun was warm, and everything was new.



I remember when the world was safe, the way ahead was clear.

We laughed and played and sang and danced, without the taint of fear.



I remember when the world was true, we never feared to trust.

Until the day my whole world changed and crumbled into dust.



I remember when, that winter night, my younger brother died.

And from that day I was a man, ‘tho torn apart inside.



I remember when my love and I both pledged our lives forever.

To each be true, to each be good and face the world together.



I remember when I held my son, my tender new-born child.

My wish for him a destiny on which the gods have smiled.



I remember how I chased my dreams, and some of them came true

But some of them, as Housman said, were sold for endless rue 1



I remember now my memories, and dreams I held so dear.

The magic days, the perfect times stay with me, crystal clear.



So who can know and who can tell which way the wind will blow.

But this is sure, fine memories will ease me as I go.

Footnotes
1  A E Housman (1859-1936)

Stanza XIII from the cycle of poems, A Shropshire Lad.



When I was one-and-twenty

The wise man said again

"The heart out of the bosom

Was never given in vain;

'Tis paid with sighs a-plenty

and sold for endless rue"

And I am two-and-twenty,

And oh, 'tis true, 'tis true