What you see
Is what you get,
If memory held
Be yours as yet,
Hence till you see
Be not the same,
After time shades
A memory’s claim,
And what now seen
Be but a thought,
That too soon fades
To near forgot,
Thus seeks reprieve
From sight in shame
While you suffer grieve!
Poetry on a canapé 
A couple of days ago I attended a birthday party for a dear friend. The average age of attendees was well over 50 – most of them I had never met before. These were remarkable women – they had layers of memories that added depth and wisdom. Your words, and the way you build upon a thought and then another, reminded me of the evening. In our experience, we must move forward, yet it is in the backward glance that we gain understanding.
I very much appreciated your post tonight….
All the very best of the holiday season to you and yours…
Thank you Rebecca, for your wise and worthy observation. This poem was inspired while recently walking the streets of Rome, our kind of second home, where beautiful ancient sights speak profoundly. At times some of the less notable sights are but slight memories of images no longer as clear as once ago, sort of near forgot, that fall into of kind of deja vu recall of an image, when memory starts its decline, as it will to varying degrees to all of us over forty. In essence it is but another poem which faces aspects of life that visits all of us who live and feel life deeply. A poem I’d hoped open to ones personal interpretation, which by your comment seemingly has achieved its purpose. Again my friend, I thank you! Jean-Jacques
🙂 Well said….
Blogging 2014 awaits us!!
Yes, a thought that too soon fades. Lovely poem.
Thank you Paulette. this one, once again inspired by the ancient beauty of la bella Roma, was number four of travel’s seven. Jean-Jacques