…..

remember me when the candle lights are gleaming
remember me at the close of a long, long day
it would be so sweet when all alone I’m dreaming
just to know you still remember me

The lines from John Prine’s version of Remember Me, are soft and demanding.
They’re about memory bathed in gloaming; memory situated in the mundane;
memory intimate and fatal.

the sweetest days are the days that used to be – Narragansett, RI, 1968
– thinking back to that first summer – us walking to Scarborough Beach; us riding the waves; your parents’ tiny summer home; the rickety wooden chairs, the kids behind us necking, the chaos that was the Newport Folk Festival; in the stifling humidity, us lifting our robes to catch a breeze, but revealing forbidden shorts – all these images, all these vids still fill my head
– thinking back to the December of our fist year – the snows on the golf-course and making angels in the glittering white-light; the kiss in front of the windmill house, in the glow of the full moon; the orange juice, in the stainless steel pitcher, that you brought to my room that kept me hydrated – all these images, all these shorts still fill my head

the saddest words I ever heard were words of parting – Portsmouth, RI, 1969
– I left for Canada, sick as a dog; we wished each other Merry Christmas at the Providence airport
– in the new year, in the gray winter light, we smiled, we laughed, but went walking with new friends. I couldn’t tell you, I had fallen in love
– in the silence of Compline, you cried because he was going to Vietnam; in the silence of Compline, I held you and prayed
– in August, we went for our last dinner; you were going down to DC; I was heading up to Windsor. the restaurant was a restored stone-house; in the back, there was a pond and willow-trees that swayed above the silent waters

good bye
good bye sweet New England
I’ll miss you

and we will never be the same, except in memory

…

The image is from Dezeen 2364 – Christmas Card 2021.