That World Is Gone

I remember friends. I see their children in wedding gowns

and later I see them with babies.

I examine the photos.

I look for evidence of my previous existence

and find no sign.

I cannot return to the past. I have been banished.

I cannot dive into waters that no longer exist.

I cannot return to the park where I skied in winter

and skated under flood lights at night.

I cannot return to that June where I hit balls 
high into the air

that no one would ever catch.

That world is gone but I am no ghost.

Do the dead remember me?

Can they see me now? Do they know my thoughts?

Can they hear me sigh?