Unattained Poem by James Walter Orr

The flow of shadowy images
That flood in subtle light
On tempestuous
Textured tapestries of want,
That hang behind the consciousness
Like curtains of the night,
And the image-pressures
Press their plans to haunt.
When the conscious day is over
And the body’s in repose,
Then desires of the subconscious
Subtly seek to interpose
Addicting dreams of what could be;
What should have been in spring.
The fruited trees wore blossoms then,
And birds were on the wing.
In rolling waves of resonance
Dreams march across the mind,
In kaleidoscopic
Glimpses of the stars,
But the ending of a rainbow
Is an ending one can’t find;
Yet for this goal
Is fought our personal wars.
When the book of life stands open
‘Till it bares the middle page,
Between youth’s optimism
And the mellowness of age –
Oh eventide; oh afterglow;
Oh autumn’s subtle sigh:
Materialize the shadows
That the summer passed us by.