Happily Ever After

The years have all gone by
The memories all in a line
The faces set aside,
Happily ever after
The big accomplishments
The spotlight, come and went
The stages of ascent:
Happily ever after
Don't be fooled; it's a fellowship of years
Tugging at your heart while bruising your ego
Don't be ruled by the suggested fears
Of all the lives you have touched and then let go
A path and life that once was shared
From a distance it looks so bare
A faint recognition of something there
And happily ever after
Some of them were too busy with their dreams,
Playing on time and maintaining their features;
Others were the ones you chose not to see
While you grew into the current creature
A culminating task
Of all of the questions you cannot ask
"...Whatever became of so and so?"
"...Was theirs a life spent forever alone?"
"...Married with kids, but not quite a home?"
"...Sick for a long time -- how could you have known?"
...Asleep there beside you, then suddenly gone...
..."Most Likely to Succeed," but an accident won
Or happily ever after... (we don't know)
happily ever after... (who CAN know?)
happily ever after... (we hope so)