Autumn Sunset in the Park
Author: Carolyn UrsabiaBy Carolyn Ursabia (circa 1999)
I’ve witnessed the rises and sets of many suns
Spent, contemplating the past
Minutes, hours, days
That turn into years
And I find myself back here
Upon the same place
Where history came to pass.
Oh the memories that lie within this withered an aged exterior.
I close my eyes but to hear gentle whispers of words once spoken
Into my ears from his lips;
The accompagnato of seagulls ‘cries o’ertop cars driving by;
The warmth of the sun on my skin.
That I reawaken into a time, a place – a world
That doesn’t exist!
As the past does not exist.
It is only in our minds that it exists.
Nothing tangible, nothing that is fact
Nothing to touch, see, or hear.
It is sometimes depicted in a picture, poem, or music,
And yet, never completely.
For our memories are biased
Only in our head to haunt us
And convince us that their existence is real
Each and every time we close our eyes…
Yet they remain there to make us smile,
There to make us cry,
To recall the pain that has faded.
To reminisce about the love that didn’t last,
To find ourselves unable to let go
Standing, but again, upon the scene
Where everything took place –
But didn’t
Because memories don’t exist.