Making Memory A Blessing Poem by gershon hepner

MAKING MEMORY A BLESSING


Making memory a blessing,
is hard, since it more often is a curse,
the dissonance and dispossessing
of the past, which when put into verse
is seen in its full beauty and
reminds us painfully that paradise
is lost, which, we must understand,
we can't by means of poetry reprise.
Some find great pleasure being sad
in its surroundings, but I'd rather dwell
in a future not yet bad,
although I fear it may become a hell.


Inspired by a poem by Dana Gioia:

THE LOST GARDEN

If ever we see those gardens again,
The summer will be gone-at least our summer.
Some other mockingbird will concertize
Among the mulberries, and other vines
will clib the high brick wall to disappear.

How many footpaths crossed the old estate-
The gracious acreage of a grander age-
So many trees to kiss or argue under,
And greenery enough for any mood.
What pleasure to be sad in such surroundings.

At least in retrospect. For even sorrow
Seems bearable when studied at a distance,
And if we speak of private suffering,
The pain becomes part of a well turned tale
Describing someone else who shares our name.

Still thinking of you, I sometimes play a game.
What if we had walked a different path one day.
Would some small incident have nudged us elsewhere
The way a pebble tossed into a brook
Might change the course a hundred miles downstream?

The trick is making memory a blessing,
To learn by loss the cool subtraction of desire,
Of wanting nothing more than what has been,
To know the past forever lost, yet seeing
Behind the wall a garden still in blossom.

5/6/12 #10,092