Poem: Remembering

Johnie Levell's Blog

Poem: Remembering

2/15/2009

Here I share a poem that I wrote quite a while ago, but it seems like yesterday. I found myself struggling with my past, trying to sort out all the joys and pains that have had a hand in shaping who I am, or at least who I was at the time. I do believe I have changed quite a bit since I wrote this, but I revisit the poem as one going back to an old childhood house.

Remembering by Johnie W. Levell on September 3, 2003

Deep within the hollow halls,
Deep within the catacombs,
Descend I the steps of my ancient thoughts,
The remembrances that haunt me.

They drip with tears of joy and pain,
And form puddles that I know
By name and place, time and face -
The remembrances that haunt me.

Were I chained to these walls,
My affections would stay where
Earth cushioned my weary feet,
And nature was my friend - in life...in rest.
But with my freedom I have claimed
To make myself a slave,
A lonely nomad who makes his home
In the remembrances that haunt me.

Can a man escape his past,
Or a woman her regrets?
Deep within each heart of us
Are lifeless chambers of remembrance.

Filled with halls and secret rooms -
Some so painful, I keep them locked,
Yet I am the ghost leaning on the door
Of the remembrances that haunt me.

Not afraid of an apparition am I,
Nor would it have fear of me.
Those who haunt are truly haunted
By remembering.