Dissolving Castles

It seems that I am crying in the rain.

Remembered lips caress a curving hand —

Forgive me, friends; I sing a tired strain.

Strangers meeting on a midnight train,

We shook the cars, rattling through the land.

It seems that I am crying in the rain.

You surely thought that we had gone insane,

Days spent in skin and sweat, teeth and toes and —

Forgive me, friends; I sing a tired strain.

Who am I to weep of endless pain?

All love must die, bright castles built in sand.

It seems that I am crying in the rain.

Are you not weary of my sad refrain?

Who’d think that love so brief would leave a brand?

Forgive me, friends; I sing a tired strain.

Better love dies before it starts to wane;

That little time we shared was rather grand.

It seems that I am crying in the rain.

Forgive me, friends; I sing a tired strain.

*****

M.A. Mohanraj

July 13, 1996