MEMORIES and OLD IRON

Memories like rusty old iron that was cast
In some small sandy hole that I thought surely would last –
Brought to the front of my mind now and then,
Polished so I vaguely see them again.

Cracks in my memories like pits in the iron –
Missing some scenes like a field that is barren.
Like seasoning on skillet, a faint image shows through –
Someone from long years, some notes I once knew.

A shine that now beams to my memory, now dim –
I see in my mind's eye – was that really him?
My father, my brother – oh where have you gone?
My sister, my mother – some notes of a song ...

Though iron lasts a long time, it changes its look.
My mind from my body has also forsook ...
Corrosion has come to that iron in the sand.
I'm changing, too, for a far better land.

My thinking is slipping – sometimes loses track,
Like that trusty iron skillet, I'm beginning to crack.
Forgetting my own name, don't know who you are –
But I do know that Heaven's no longer so far!

But now it's today. I'm not sure what to do.
The rust in that skillet's now covered my view.
My mind simply tricks me with things only I see.
I know that I'm fading but God's arms reach for me.

- by Netagene Kirkpatrick, December 21, 2014 -