An Abandoned Tow-Path by Elias Lieberman

An Abandoned Tow-Path 

by Elias Lieberman

In idle dalliance now it welcomes weeds;

Grasshoppers dance along its unused ways;

A rainbow blur of flowers tells of seeds

The wind had caught in care-free yesterdays.

And resting close beside it, almost dry,

A greenish ghost of what was once a stream.

Sags low within its muddy bed, as lie

The broken things whose life is but a dream.

In memory alone it suffers pain;

Informal insect choirs and elfin brass

Intone a dirge for all who wax and wane,

A requiem for all who thrive and pass.

Sometimes, beneath the moon, it wakes to see

The rotted locks draw open noiselessly.