Here a poster, there a pamphlet
A creased and dog-eared map
Happy days never to forget
Caught in memory\'s trap;
These lifeless papers lie
In a drawer away from the light
Flattened, as much to die
As suffer eternal night;
But opening the drawer brings them alive
In my hands the shrieks and yells
The Children, life yet to arrive,
The ringing of distant bells;
What good are they, why do we keep
Days passed away and drained?
As if happiness, once put to sleep,
Could revive and fill our hearts again;
For these bygones only serve
To remind me of what has gone away
So sadness is what I deserve
For pretending it is yesterday.