Every single thought
That haunts my mind
Takes me back in time
To all those people
I loved some still here
Some have passed,
Many moons ago
And though they’re gone
They are still here,
In my heart, in my soul,
In memories of long ago.

Each one of them
Shared with me his wisdom:
To stay human, endure pain,
Even when this feels insane;
To move on, to fight, to survive,
Think only of values
That really count,
The reason I was born
The reason I must die.

Whether it’s the Fall
When their voices screech,
Through fissured walls,
Or whisper in my ears
On a breeze in spring,
Or deafen me in winter
With their hallowed howls,
I still listen to their stories.
I’ve learnt with age
When we are born
Time slips out of its cage
Furtive, like a silent thief:
The clock is its beating heart.

At first, it walks at a snail’s pace,
Deludes me it will never pass
And I will never grow,
That childhood is immortal,
That I was a child forever
Eternal, immune to death;
It’s what it made me believe.
Now I look at the mirror
After all this time and know
Like Dorian, I have been mocked
And I am still to recover
From this shock.

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Two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, Ray Fenech Gonzi is a journalist, writer, editor and poet from Malta.