I was the Captain once...

 Over 6 years have elapsed since love has departed...

Now, I see things differently. The magic of the long-forgotten, but indelible moments has vanished from

this solemn place. When I gaze back in longing for what was lost, there is no clear and certain 

recollection, just simply a mirage of feelings, events & embraces erased from the substrate of my soul.

I gaze in appreciation on our daughter, the only lifeline and tether point between our lost spirits, the sole 

talisman left remaining to prove that our past even existed at all...

She is the light --- the embodiment of everything good, enriching, motivating and loving in my life.

She is the catalyst for my remaining sanity, the last remaining thread of hope in this deserted, arid, 

forgotten wasteland of emotion, the last harbor still actively serving kindness in all of my existence. 

At times, I recall the past. Alas, nothing but stale crumbs lining the tattered boards of a general store once 

vibrant in its prime, now left to time to dismantle, day by day, moment by moment, memory by memory.

But I won't ever forget what you meant to me, what this meant to my soul.

Once I was the captain, oh the captain of so much vigor, fervent emotion and happiness...

Now I sit alone in the respite harbor, my only enchanting moments left are when our daughter arrives in 

port.

But at least, I have memories of what being a captain was....

At least I faced the storms, at least I believed in us once.

For you can take the ship, you can take my youth, you can even take pieces of my memory, but you 

cannot change the fact that I sailed.

For I know I was once special to someone, albeit briefly...