poetry, prose, and photography
Youthful memories
Comic books
Toy ray-guns
Sunlit days
Free of shoes
Sand covered toes
Burning echoes
Of the first-girl-I-loved’s
Bemusement
And resultant mockery
I wonder
Why suffering
Delights us so?
Such cruelty divides us
A charred gulf bearing
Smoldering rubble
Remnants of hope
So many memories of this journey called life. Painful ones sometimes rise up, reminding me of their place in my mind, my psyche. Hints of underlying angers and frustrations, damage done.
​My old memories
Seated upon the sidewalk
Watching a kid’s game
Many memories
Puppets crafted with delight
Wonders of childhood
memories faded
her face inaccessible
her love remains strong
Walking past the stalls
Early morning at Pike Place
Tourists were absent
I look north
At familiar trees
Memories of youthful sorrows
Reflect on myself
Walking upon these same streets
Changed and new blended.
Walking upon old roads
My childhood feet trode.
Memories, feelings lurking
Forgotten flit forth, bird-like;
A flicker upon consciousness
Vanishing like morning fog
Leaving no trace save the
Dream-like phantom reflection
Of my youth.
Carl Setzer: Word Shaper 