It is not as long as all that, I don’t think

But already (it seems) your memory is fading

Not so very fast that I could notice if watching

But ah! turning my back for just one

Careless and un-invigilant moment of this time

That is running away from me

You would be gone

 

It is not as long as all that, but still

Lying here with my eyes asleep and thinking

But, with an effort of will (if I really try) I can remember

A whisper of your gentle (fading) breeze until

All-of-a-sudden you are here

Tugging at my being alive

Like a stormy night (I am nearly gone)

Like a tossed raft on a dead sea (dying)

Through dream shattered sleep (swimming) until

As tomorrow’s morning shore approaches (I awake)

Shipwrecked on a lost beach

And you are but a faded dream (a whisper of a faded breeze)

A memory nearly gone.

 

around 1981?