Memory lane

Hovering in my thoughts
Just out of reach
A will-o’-the wisp
Taunting me, goading me to give chase
Even as it flutters from memory to memory;

Leading me down the lane of cluttered memories
Feelings and thoughts piled on top of each other
And I sit down and try to sift through the heaps
Trying to understand what was and what is;

If I could hold it in my hands
This little light of wisdom
Maybe I will see not the clutter
But ordered shelves,
Perhaps catalogued and stored alphabetically;
But I have got used to the mess
And cleaning up is such a painful chore;

So I leave it for another day
And brush aside temptation to linger in this haunted hall of shattered dreams
As I walk on, away from the memory lane
Towards the present and onto the future;
Voices long forgotten call to me
And are left where they belong – in the past;
For there is a light at the end of the tunnel beckoning me;
And I walk on, straight ahead, to a little ray of hope.