Showing posts with label memory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label memory. Show all posts

Monday, October 15, 2012

That Song!

The Wordle    


SUNDAY WHIRL
asks us to use all the words in the Wordle

THAT SONG!

How many years have passed, my love, since you and I were young?
You came back into my mind, my love, when a certain song was sung.
'A fella with an umbrella' those were the words I heard
And, suddenly, I was young again, even though that sounds absurd.
By now you've become an old lady, and maybe your memory fails,
But I hope you, too, have a mental picture that never ever pales.
*
I remember a day of thunder......it seemed it would never stop.....
And my Auntie Anne, your Mother, said 'Just run to the shop.'
We started making excuses.....'The light has nearly gone!'
'The puddles are getting deeper!....on and on and on.
In the end we were persuaded to brave the stormy sky,
And so we set off, laughing, the umbrella held up high.
*
The shop was really very near, just half-way down the lane,
We got there without much trouble, but then, down came the rain.
It was a childhood adventure; we decided we would stand
Close by the wall of the church-yard, which was quite close at hand.
We stood so close we were almost joined and it suddenly came to me
That this was the very relationship which was clearly meant to be!
*
For thirteen of my fifteen years you had been around,
And yet here were brand new feelings I had suddenly found!
'I'm going to marry you, Amy.' Suddenly the words were said
And I kissed you under the umbrella!......... You flushed a rosy red.
'Don't be silly! We're cousins!' you said and ran home again
While I was left feeling foolish, all alone in the rain.
*
'Amy! You're soaked!' said your Mother; 'Tom should have kept you dry!'
You hung your head, determined that you wouldn't catch my eye.
Long ago you parted from Peter; and my marriage just didn't work out;
Never again, in my whole life, did certainty replace doubt. 
I vowed I would forget you and inherit my place in the sun,
But you were always in my mind, you were always the one.
*
And now, though memory shifts and fades, I still recall the umbrella,
And that wonderful moment in the rain when I truly was 'your fella.'
*
-------------------------------------------

A LOT OF SEA

A scene of domesticity
And yet one of enormity
Because although our town's terrific
It's perched on the edge of the great Pacific.
Little houses huddle by
The vastness of the sea and sky.
We look out on a placid scene,
Boxy houses, gardens green,
Yet if we shade our eyes and look
Beyond our cosy little nook,
We see eternity flowing by;
Eternity of sea and sky.
South America's 'over there',
Way, way off in the east, somewhere,
Over the curve of the earth, then on,
Further than many folk have gone.
Water, water everywhere
Nothing but water and thin air!
And, underneath such life is teeming!
We only see the wave-tops gleaming,
But sea-creatures are living, thriving,
Bounteous numbers coiling, diving!
What audacity for us to think
That we, who're living on the brink,
Building little fabrications,
Tiny human-sized creations,
Matter at all! We can't defy
The vastness of the sea and sky.
*

Friday, October 5, 2012

Proof Positive

                  Bundy

THE PURPLE TREE HOUSE
asks for some comedy

PROOF POSITIVE

The policeman stopped Roberto's car and said that he was needing
His licence and other documents because he'd seen him speeding.
'I'm sure I wasn't, officer'....thus Roberto spoke....
'To say that I was speeding is simply just a joke.'
'It's certainly no joke, my man' the policeman, quickly, said;
'Breathe into this bag at once so your readings can be read!'
Of course the police equipment proved that he was inebriated,
Roberto snapped 'It cannot be the figure that you've stated!
Your equipment must be faulty. I think it's a disgrace
To have traffic cops of the likes of you hanging around the place!'
'Just watch your tongue!' cried the Officer 'Let the law take it's course!
How dare you sit there and criticise a member of the force!'
Roberto shouted 'You're lying! I'm as sober as can be!
And I will run you over if you don't get away from me!'
*
Then timid little Elsie, who'd been in the passenger seat,
Piped up and said, in a voice that was placating, soft and sweet....
'Take no notice of him, Officer; he always kicks up a stink
And gets very argumentative, when he's had too much to drink!'
*
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blake with a Mullard relation, Sam.

THE IMAGE

What they gazed  at long ago
Is clearly not for me to know.
They see a picture that delights;
Something they have in their sights.
The digital age, when all the action
Is captured in instant satisfaction.
They capture an image, and so do I;
Something to treasure as the years go by.
*

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Magic




MAGIC

Do I believe in magic?'
Certainly I do!
For magic is all around us,
Constantly in view.
I don't believe in 'numbers';
Or even 'horoscopes'
And I think those that do believe 
Are merely gullible dopes.
I don't believe in 'tea-leaves' 
Or even 'rabbit's feet';
And I think that Fortune Tellers
Are inclined to lie and cheat.
But I do believe in the magic
Of the atom and the cell;
And I do believe it's magic
 When a pearl grows in a shell.
I think the fact that I'm alive
Is magic undeniable;
And I think of magic when the sun comes up,
Daily and so reliable.
What need is there of Fairies,
Or Angels, come to that,
When we are floating in a magic
That's like some Magnificat?
*
------------------------------------------------------------------

SHAME

You ask us to write about Shame
And my mind is blank!
Have I led a blameless
As opposed to a shameless,
Life?
No!
I can recall moments of 
Stupidity,
Brashness,
Thoughtlessness,
And, even, Unkindness.
But the memories
Are softened by time.
I'm sure I wasn't that bad after all!
At night I enjoy a dream-free sleep,
The sure sign of a clear conscience.
How is it then
That when I rest on the settee
For half an hour
In the afternoon,
And I doze,
Every stupid action surges back?
Frequently,
I'm jolted back to wakefulness
By the reliving
Of each miserable act!
I wake feeling I have only just committed it!
It is
 So fresh,
So bald,
So appalling,
So humiliating
That the thought kills all slumber.
*
Of course,
I can't recount my sins to you
Because I am wide awake.
Pity about that!
*

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Beyond Words



Baby signing

JENNY MATLOCK 
asks us to use 
'It's only words and words are all I have....'
using only 100 extra words

BEYOND WORDS

Words are all I have? Not quite!
Look at my facial expression!
It's only when you see my face
You're getting the right impression.

Words alone can be misleading,
Whether said or printed
And it's my eyes you should be reading.
Words have only hinted.

Watch the deaf and see the signing......
There is not a word.
Movement's doing the defining,
Yet everything is 'heard.'

A kindly hand upon a shoulder
Is its own alphabet.
A smile delighting the beholder.....
A 'word' he wont forget.

Words are a constant living treasure
But on their own they do not measure.
(109 words)
*
-------------------------------------------------------------------------


FALSE MEMORY

The mist is cold, the world is grey;
To think we met on such a day!
*
Back then it seemed as though the sky
Were echoing the 'You-and-I'.
Surely the sky that day was blue!
Surely the mist was pearly dew!
Surely the golden garden seat
Was fashioned for we two to meet.
As I recall, the conversation
Reflected the joy of our situation!
I saw the love-birds in the trees!
I smelled the perfume on the breeze!
I saw the flowers! Who could forget
The glory of the day we met?
*
Of course, you laughed at me, in time....
' Nothing about it was sublime!
It was cold and damp and grey and bleak;
You and your hearts-and-flowers mystique!'
I heard you speaking mockingly;
I should have guessed you were mocking me.'
*
Now that you've gone I realise
We met under dark and lowering skies.
The mist was cold, the world was grey.
I remember it well, now you've gone away.
*
---------------------------------------------------
PS
Here, in the Antipodes, life is rather topsy-turvy. The locals don't realise it, but I, as an old immigrant, certainly do. Here is Spring! And yet minds are turned to Christmas! All the churches hold their Spring Fairs about now, and 'stocking fillers' are high on the must-have list! 
I took this photo at our local Spring Fair yesterday. Muddly, but fun.