I once met a woman who confused me so,
Her eyes were crazed yet sparkled aglow.
She lived by herself in an old little shack,
And all she did was rock forth and back.
Her hair was frazzled and white as snow,
And her voice when she spoke sounded just like a crow.
She said one sentence, one sentence alone,
Her words were quite clear, as solid as stone.
She said it so strange, with a far away look,
A warning so grave, my very bones shook.
What she said in my mind will forever endure,
Her harsh voice rang out: “Forget not the future.”

These words that she spoke made no sense to me,
But they stuck in my mind and I couldn’t go free.
So I wrote it all down in a form such as this,
In hopes that I’d find my way out the abyss.
As pen slid on paper and words came to life,
I realized that writing helped lessen my strife.
It unlocked a part of my being unknown,
And gave me a wisdom I have never known.

I’ve never forgotten that crazed woman’s speech,
And the years that have passed by really did teach.
For now, I am certain the woman was wise,
As I think of the sparkle in her dark gray eyes.
The words that she spoke were not of nonsense,
For she spoke out a wisdom that was quite immense.
I understand all her words at last,
For forgetting the future is forgetting the past.