Sweet memories hauntingly caress me
As I return to the place of my birth
Mixed feelings of the past recalled
Recollections of sadness, grief and mirth



Once again, I become a child
Walking barefoot through the field
Reliving the days of yesteryear
My innermost thoughts revealed



I hear the dulcet tones of laughter
From a far and distant past
And see a vision of our Mother
My wonder unsurpassed



Mother's loving arms reach out to me
Her calloused hands touch my face
While tears are flowing down my cheeks
I am lost in her warm embrace



Daddy and Lena have come with her
Apparitions of the way they were
The imagery seems so real to me
Scalding tears cause my eyes to blur



Holding their hands, I walk along
With the wraiths of yesterday
Beloved specters of my memory 
As if they had never gone away



As love transcends even into death
They fade into nostalgia's mist
Ghosts of yesterday enfold me now
And my questions no longer persist

Kathleen McCoy EldridgeŠ
June 23, 2006
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