A F T E R G L O W

Far away 'twould seem are now, the hours
       of yesterday,
The sunshine and the joys of life that touched
       me on their way,
Clouds around me, pressing down, draw nearer
       every hour,
Bewildered stand I in dismay, beneath their
       mighty power.

Fain would I recall a day, an hour, or gesture
       kind,
And barter all whate'er remains for glimpse of
       life to find,
Such as I knew but yesterday, like fragment
       flowers blessed,
With perfume of a fleeting hour, now passed
       and gone to rest.

Yet something of those hours remain, though
       sunny days depart,
And treasured fragments of a love still stir
       within my heart;
The memories, and those golden dreams, of
       days so long ago,
Like silken threads they weave an hour, of
       mellowed afterglow.