Only Me

Is it only me
who clings like a koala to memory?
who likes to hold on to what I see--
what I see when I look back;
when I look back into the past?

Is it only me
who frequently climbs inside my brain,
and reaches for both joy and pain?

Because, at one time those feelings
were so intense they were reeling.

I remember the elation behind each smile,
and every wave of stomach quease.
How every minute away seemed a lifetime,
and how his image in my mind would tease!

Is it only me
who will subject myself to this rehash;
who takes comfort in feelings I once had;
who wonders where I would be today;
but assumes this path the better way?

Why does it seem that everyone else
can easily free themselves?
When something is in the past, they know
it's better to just let it go.
They don't even reflect upon
the feelings their life force once thrived on.

It doesn't mean I'm not happy today
to want to remember yesterday.

Is it only me?

March 28, 1996