614. Dawn

When I take my last breath,

All the moments of this life shall seem,

As nothing more then the death,

Of a long, yet fleeting dream.

For dreams, they drift away,

As the mind awakens…fade to dust.

Lost in the eternal fray,

They perish, as all dreams must…

So we can greet the day.

K. Aldaya, 4/27/23

Picture: By Sarah Mason on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/cUY7u2Fskk4

514. Smile

Sit with me awhile,

As the walls collapse around us;

For I live to see you smile,

And the chaos can not touch us,

When hearts so pleasantly beguile.

Let’s sit hand-in-hand,

And remember, as we gaze…

Into another land,

That all time is but a phase;

And life and death: unplanned.

So sit with me tonight.

Let us go away together,

Where the sun is shining bright,

And we can always be together.

Hold me close, and hold on tight.

Sit with me awhile…For I….

…..I live to see you smile.

K. Aldaya, 3/17/20

Picture: By Reed Naliboff on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/ukaHRDJ-ics

497. An Uncivil War

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You were not kind,

And you weren’t the worst;

And though you’re gone,

I must say first,

I wish we could’ve met again one day,

Yet time has taken you away,

And now we’re history.

Strong wooden houses,

We each stood there in time,

Though soon the floors creak,

And are covered with grime;

And I wish we could’ve gone to see,

And understand our history;

Before you were torn down.

I longed for more,

Yet now it can’t be.

We remain unvisited;

Unpreserved and empty.

They say that it’s an uncivil war,

To fight time for anything more…

Than what we are given.

So here I stand,

In the past and present,

With only a memory,

To prove you are absent.

We are nothing more than mere moments in time,

A barren plot,… a whisper,… a passage in rhyme…

Civilly squandered.

K. Aldaya, 10/20/19

In Memoriam

Picture: Judith Henry’s House, Manassas, Virginia, 1862; American Civil War; https://www.pinterest.ch/pin/462815299200135707/

414. You Do Not Have to Die

I didn’t want to die when I swallowed all those pills.

I didn’t want to die when I climbed those lofty hills.

I didn’t want to die when I tied that rope on tight.

I didn’t want to die when I climbed that towers’ height.

I didn’t want to die when I loaded that old gun.

I didn’t want to die, yet what is done, is done.

I swallowed all those pills, and climbed those lofty hills;

And tied that rope on tight, and jumped off from that height.

And I loaded that old gun, for there wasn’t anyone,…to say:

“You do not have to die! It doesn’t have to be this way.”

I see you there with all those pills. I see you climbing hills.

I see that you purchased that rope and have no sense of hope.

I see that you are walking up the stairs to the top.

I see that gun, “Put it down. Put it down. Stop!”

You do not have to die, my friend.

This should not be your end.

I see you. I see you…and all that pain within you.

Please put down those pills, and walk beyond those hills.

Unknot that rope. There’s still hope. There’s still hope!

Lay down that gun, and in the morn we’ll watch the sun,…

As it peeks o’er the line ‘tween night and day,

We’ll sit and watch the start of another earthly day;

And laugh, and cry, and hope together,

Under the ethereal clouds we gather,…

And fashion into dreams.

K. Aldaya, 10/4/17

Picture: https://www.wallpaperflare.com/brown-rocky-mountain-during-sunrise-photo-rophaien-wallpaper-17362

411. We Take it With Us

Under a cold and somber spell,

We stand two worlds apart;

Yet though the world’s taken my life,

It will never take my heart!

The heart which loved and cared for you.

A heart which felt love’s sting;

Which beat the bitter tides of fate…

Back, for awhile to sing.

We can not go back now,

For life ever moves on;

And we must move on with it.

Cling tightly.  Hold on…

To hope and future happiness.

In times of change, to feel,

No matter how hurt we are:

Even broken hearts may heal…

Knowing that love goes on.

—-We take it with us.

K. Aldaya, 8/10/17