Holding the Rainbow

I always seem to think I can hold the Rainbow
Reaching out and take it as it touches ground
Spend hours trying to imprison the gaudy show
The crystal prism makes as it fragments light, so
Many colours scattered carelessly around.

Carrying friendships like water in my hand
Wondering how time has swallowed love
Try stop the hourglass as it pours out sand.
My life and loves confined to memories and
Souvenirs, now just a phantom treasure trove.

Haunted down the years by might have been
Exchanging the desire for the Rainbow’s essence
With the understanding I must accept the rain
Then a moment’s happenstance brings the unforeseen
And stalks the mind till once again I touch iridescence.

The life lived dangerously on the Rainbow’s edge
The kaleidoscope turns for a new and random show
Heedlessly I stretch out to take the gift and ascend the pinnacle,
Laughing with the faerie folk I dance again in the Rainbow,
Try to hold the delight, and so doing, break the Rainbow’s pledge.

Lessons learned in the Rainbow, never give more than what is asked,
Remember that the Rainbow must always turn swiftly back to rain
Smile with memory and laugh at the shimmering, incandescent past.
Locked in the furthest corners and in the shadows of the pain
Comes the stealthy afterglow; it was worth it, even when it could not last.