Lois Elaine Heckman

To Gather Gladness

I
try
catching
happiness
while it slips through my
fingers like pearls of a broken
necklace. Only remnants remain, with their muted glow.
The rest precipitate beyond reach, disappearing, lost into darkness forever.

My
hand
clutches
at cherished
memories, retained
in desperation, to prove past
contentment, hoping to string them together again
in a semblance of reality, when I must look into life and attempt to smile.

Bio

Lois Heckman grew up in Los Angeles and received a degree in Italian from UCLA. She has lived for forty-four years as an expat in Milan, Italy, becoming a volunteer nurse and first aid instructor for the Italian Red Cross. She has been published on The Shine Journal and won the 2010 New England Shakespeare Festival Rubber Ducky Sonnet Contest.