WHERE ARE THEY GONE?
by John T. Baker
Where are they gone, the lads I used to know,
Companions blithe with whom I hailed each dawn,
Those ne'er forgotten chums eons ago
In that primeval world, where are they gone?

Who hears them now, the songs I once would sing,
Sweet melodies that linger on somehow
Within my brain and at no bidding bring
Back poignant memories, who hears them now?

What yet remains of verses I did write,
Immortal lines I thought those poor quatrains,
Such pain to pen, such relish to recite,
So rueful to recall, what yet remains?

Delights that now divert will not outlast
Those long-abandoned pleasures of the past.