Longing [Revision]

I’m hunted now by longing, as I age –

the remembered longings of youthful loves –

like an old book, where I turn to a page

back near the beginning, to see if it moves

my spirit now as then. Such treasure troves

of beauty and sorrow I hold within! 

Yet why, after so long, do they return

to hunt me? I’d resolved to relegate

all to burial chambers. But they burn,

those old flames, flaring … as the hour grows late.

[Revised 25 June 20204. Earlier draft posted 19 April 2024.]