Moonlit Memories

late at night when
darkness surrounds
memories, falsely illuminated
confuse and confound

they flow through the night
rustling darkened leaves
in through a window
and into my dreams

these moonlit memories
their distorted colors blend
with the shadows of night
are they real or pretend?

the stars, they lie
the moon, it deceives
my mind, fooled by both
accepts and believes

a memory of a girl
beautiful and free
not as she was
but how I wish she could be

or maybe memory is true
and doubt, the deception
shades of truth and deceit
mental cloak of protection

but even in the depth of dream
shaded from truth and time
I cannot escape her memory
and the emptiness inside