Drifting out of the feelings of my heart
And pursuing the mechanization of the mind
I find a place of impasse
Where the is neither strength in love nor the divine
The memories of my past surround me
And in no uncertain order they are arranged
To show me the errors
And to help me appreciate the thoughts of the deranged
Searching for something I have lost
My eyes wander from cover to cover
And then my eyes fall
Upon a nondescript title called "Mother"
The records play like a filmstrip
With a subtle soundtrack of old
And as I watch
I recognize none of the images bold
I observe many things I do not know
And observe many more I wish I hadn't
Running over and over
In a mind separate and devoid of the present
And then a single image comes to me
Of a woman hanging Christmas lights
The brightness of her smile
Betraying the failing of her life
And then a sent comes to my nose
One that overwhelms me and brings me to tears
It is the smell of gingerbread
That we made before the coming of the New Year
And then I recognize what I have lost
A childhood memory I left behind
And in so closing this chapter
I find some piece of mind
