They glide like specters along the wayside,
  Shadowy visions of a life gone by;
Scenes of happiness that appear then hide -
  A sore heart more a portion to deny.
There! They are there! Does your mind see them not?
  – Those days far away removed from worry,
When joy was all, and sorrow had no say -
  Remembrances in fevered wishes wrought.
If you would seize them you must hurry!
  Savor the significance while you may!

Now they are gone, like phantoms of tired mead,
  Long faded as gray into the fog night,
Passing on with inestimable speed,
  Out across the limit of mortal sight,
As lamplight that flickers on fair faces
  Only to be trimmed until the flame seems
Never to have burned but in rhymes amiss.
  Fled are the ghosts of those haunted places,
Though the silhouettes are sufficient for dreams
  Left on the eyes of those who reminisce.

~ Daniel F Mitchell

Owner of a lonely heart,
When all friends from view depart,
In the halls of rue detained,
By love alone be sustained!
What is mere time and space
To the unyielding embrace
Of love wrapped around a soul?
Console in forever as your goal!
Owner of a broken heart,
From a tranquil mind apart
Torn by loss of love and hope,
With what succor may you cope,
Left to misery’s device,
You, e’er denied paradise,
Left to pangs that never cease,
Sore discovering in silence no peace!

~ Daniel F Mitchell