Pebbles

Pebbles

Of unicorns and rainbows,
of childhoods gone by
I wonder where the pain goes,
… I wonder why we try

Marking out our chapters,
in paragraphs forged bold
In narratives enraptured,
in stories that we're told

Its not that they don't matter,
in fact, that's all we are
We're narratives that chatter,
Stones skimmed 'cross reservoirs

Causing fresher ripples,
with every bounce we take
As each impact it stipples,
the mirror of life's lake

Reflections seem important
and for a spell they are
As we ricochet round portents,
to find out just how far

How far our glides can take us,
the pebbles we might meet
The rocks that just might break us
… or make our skip complete

We find sooner or later,
our pebbles lose their bounce,
with ripples that don't cater,
with arcs and lengths renounced

To ripples ran around us,
more import in their spread
Ripples joined... that found us,
'longside ones departed... fled

The ripples stay in memory,
the surface of the lake
It forms a mirrored symphony,
pictured in their wake

The wake of pebbles, shifted course,
wanted, forced... or not
From an independent source,
skidded cross our lot

Such things can only skip so long,
its part of their design
Starting out so swift and strong,
we start our own decline

and when such pebbles take their fall,
their ripples seize to be
Existing only for recall,
yarns spun, a fabrics lea

Maps abstract, in tapestries,
to where such pebbles stopped,
to join a lake bed dressed in scree,
where other pebbles dropped

With chapters marked and tomes complete,
their part played to its end
A cameo note, midst life's suite,
a role that took its wend

Important? Yes... but don't forget,
that when the tales told
By then, it's too late for regret,
the story has been sold

A lullaby of times we tried,
of wonder sold too soon
Let unicorns and rainbows fly
… let childhood's hope bloom