By Allison Stein
When I reflect on memories from friendships past, I find that people have changed me, experiences have shaped me, and words have saved me. My poem “Condemned to Remember” is about love and lessons, about what it means to reminisce innocence.
Condemned to Remember I still remember that autumn evening a decade ago. We sat side by side in the crisp air and witnessed the first snow. While pure flakes danced in the fuchsia sunshine above, You whispered a promise for a miracle called love. But as the years pass, our destiny dissolves—disappears; Our broken hope suspends me in a paralysis of tears. I incessantly wrestle with that moment of watching the frost, Fight for the faith I have long ago lost. I look back on those years and see them as they are, Can’t imagine those memories reduced to a scar. As fantasy twists to truth, I wield a pain too heavy to bear; I can only watch as each of our daydreams turns to a lurid nightmare. Regrets have hung over me like icicles since we’ve been apart; Yesterday’s echoes haunt my soul—intoxicate my heart. I won’t accept that our miracle has shattered at last— Can’t escape the forceful lure of the past. Before, I grasped faith that friendship was forever— Trusted that fate tied our spirits together— But now I reminisce our painful good-bye And try to believe love is more than a lie. In these ten years, I’ve never forgotten the crystal snow; Alas, I wonder if a soul could ever let go Of that surreal evening in frozen November— That dreamless night I’m condemned to remember.