Love Poem: Time's Arrow Flies and Yet Seems To Stand Still
Alwin Baum Avatar
Written by: Alwin Baum

Time's Arrow Flies and Yet Seems To Stand Still

Time’s Arrow Flies and Yet Seems to Stand Still
(On Valentine’s Day, 2022)

This dull and uneventful day, in memory 
Of the love-forsaken Saint,
As heavy rain beats dull, relentless, 
Syncopated rhythms on the windowpanes, 
I’m sitting here again, composing 
Awkward lines to rhyme with images, 
Exploring forking paths of thoughts
Through dense and dark, elusive woods of words, 
The endless, hopeless quest for what I want to say, 
In search of something solid, something still.

My thoughts stray off those worn-out paths to you, 
So far away. As reveries race through my mind, 
I find myself lost in a maze of memories, 
Traces of our lives together, all that’s left 
Of you and me. Searching for the better times, 
Forgetting all the bitter times. But memories cannot 
Erase or change reality, the crushing, catastrophic 
Lies, deceit, and infinite regret. 

I don’t ask for forgiveness, And I know 
you can’t forget. Still, I hold out hope 
That somewhere, somehow, on our separate journeys
Through this raging sea of feelings, at some as yet 
Uncertain point for you and me, our parallel paths 
May once more fuse together, and you might see 
How much we really care, how rich our lives could be,
With love that cannot kill us both, but only sets us free.