yesterday

the taste of life was sweet as rain upon my tongue

i teased at life as if it were a foolish g ame

the way the evening breeze may tease a candle fl ame

the thousand dreams i dreamed the splendid things i planned

i always built alas on weak and shifting sand

i lived by night and shunned the naked light of the day

and only now i see how the years ran away

so many drinking songs were waiting to be sung

so many wayward pleasures lay in store for me

and so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see

i ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out

i never stopped to think what life was all about

and every conversation i can now recall

concerned itself with me and nothing else at all

and every crazy day brought something new to do

i used my magic age as if itwere a wand

and never saw the waste and emptiness beyond

the g ame of love i played with arrogance and pride

and every flame i lit too quickly quickly died

the friedns i made all seemed somehow to drift away

and only i am left on stage to end the play

there are so many songs in me that won't be sung

i feel the bitter taste of tears upon my tongue