Wistfulness...

A withered rose

Bereft of colour and fragrance,

Whose thorns still retain

Their painful sting.

Memory...

A broken toy

With which grown-ups play

Unwilling to discard it

Though it be useless.

Reminiscence...

A faded portrait

Painted in the distant past

With no resemblance to the present

Yet lovingly cherished

Longing...

A beckoning mirage

In the vast desert of life,

Always eluding the grasp

Of thirsty, weary travelers.