Please don't fail me now

Love drops beats

To the sound of a conundrum

Imprisoning time like a metronome

On the corrugated iron roof

Of my wanting mouth

I remember when I was still young and poor

And pissed unashamedly

Into pure white snow of innocence

Now I fear the dark

For I've seen the sickness

That resides deep in this hapless heart

Only in sweet reverie and moth-eaten memories

Do you still exist in this world

Temporary residence with pendulum doors

Teases me, feeds me

Stolen glances caressed in my mind's eye

It all seems like a century ago

And yesterday

When I was at war and you were at home

Waiting

How I wish I could wrap my tongue

Around the words you let fall from your mouth

That late Spring from our open-top motorcar

Don't fail me now

Don't let me forget

Aging hands, furrowed brow

Savour them, treasure them, lock them up

Postcards, love-letters,

Past and present

Old wedding invitations and birthday cards

Dates I've not yet once forgotten

Lie under this creaky weathered bed

Wrapped up in ribbon and string

Time-worn yellowed papers with faded ink

Deep in slumber in a cigar box from 1946

Recollection doesn't come so easily anymore

But don't fail me now

Cataracts blurs my vision

And I don't mind

For every single letter in every word

In your perfectly formed script

Remains undisturbed behind these fading eyes

My limbs misconstrue the orders that I give

My frail body has turned against me now

And of this I can accept

But the rebellious sedition that attempts to seize

All that I hold dearest, I can never forgive

I pray dear Lord, I beg you please

Let me hang on to these last few precious memories

Don't fail me now

Don't'¦.

Fail'¦'¦.

Me'¦.....

Now where am I?

What's in this box?

Who's this smiling young chap

In these faded black and white photographs?

Nurse, where am I?