Reclaiming the Spark

I rummaged through a pile of manuscript paper

Yellowed pages holding the verses of yesteryear

Hoping to find the happy poems of the past

The verses that once flowed with carefree cheer

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But as I sifted through the fading words

I realized that happiness is no golden foil

Forever shining, immune to time's decay

No, it too is subject to rust's encroaching coil

The spots of regret have settled in

Dimming the luster of joy's once-vibrant glow

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Time, ever the relentless thief, has stolen

The unbridled bliss of days long ago

For time is always gone, never to return

And we are helpless to turn back its ceaseless tide

Even if yesterday was beautiful beyond measure

It now belongs to the past, where it must reside

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We can only move forward, ever onward

Carrying the weight of memories both sweet and sour

The happy poems I sought lie buried in the past

Faded reminders of happiness' fleeting power

I hold these weathered pages in my hands

Tracing the lines that once sang of joy so pure

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But the music has dimmed, the colors have faded

As time's steady march renders all impure

Perhaps, in these verses, I might find a glimmer

A spark that can reignite the fire within

But the rust of regret has taken its toll

And I fear true happiness may never shine again

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Still, I refuse to abandon hope completely

For even in the shadows, a flicker may remain

I'll keep searching, keep writing, keep striving

To capture that elusive, once-radiant refrain

For if happiness is but a fleeting phantom

Leaving me with only the past's faded prose

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Before time once more steals it from my grasp

My task is to chase it, to hold it close!