Don't ask me what those dreams mean
For yesterday has breathed its last
And I have come away with a dignified grace
Only half deserved as I imagine the past

In retrospect
I suppose I might have understood
What others expected to see
What is there in my own defense
But that I came to terms with this
Long before

You can ask how long I dreamed them
For I do remember in terms of years
And though it feels like ages, somehow they are still here
Glittering, as shards of glass through tears

In retrospect
I suppose I might have wanted
To watch them fade into shadows
What do I have to say for myself
But that they were beneath my veins
Long ago

And immortality becomes the lens we look through
As though these things counted as eternity
I know they did for me

Don't ask me now why my heart bleeds
The heart, once scarred bleeds continuously
As phantom pain

In retrospect
I suppose I might have tried to analyze
What I had to gain
What was there in my own life
But that which I did not understand
Long ago