Fear is the curtain
I would have drawn back sooner
from whatever lay beyond,
if I had known
that what will fade, will fade
by age or use or neglect
and light will cause your eyes to narrow
and their corners to crease
but so will darkness
and no-one told me
that memory holds flare and colour
longer than shade
and imagination has no gauge
for grins and laughter,
rescued after.
