I ... entered the poem of life, whose purpose is ... simply to witness the beauties of the world, to discover the many forms that love can take. (Barabara Blackman in 'Glass After Glass')

These poems are works in progress and may be updated without notice. Nevertheless copyright applies to all writings here and all photos (which are either my own or used with permission). Thank you for your comments. I read and appreciate them all, and reply here to specific points that seem to need it — or as I have the leisure. Otherwise I reciprocate by reading and commenting on your blog posts as much as possible.

25 September 2011

Looking Back

We like our little house,
we tell each other. It’s cosy.
And it is. And we do like it.

But one day, suddenly, 
unexpectedly, I say, 
‘Sometimes I miss 
the house we left behind’ —

remembering palm fronds
seen through bedroom windows,
and the rhythmic sound of waves.

‘I know what you mean,’
he mutters, to my surprise.

Despite the tiny bathroom,
the back yard we couldn’t use
for the noisy neighbours,
and the too-high rent

despite the python in the roof
which made us fear for our cats,
and a low street that could flood,

despite the awkward hike
from laundry to clothesline,
the brown snakes in summer ...

come to think of it,
I don’t miss it that much.

Note: For the benefit of non-Aussies, our brown snakes are deadly

30 Poems in 30 days: 22, leaving something behind

14 comments:

  1. Very nice retelling.. We moved houses and sometimes, each house has certain memories of our lives. I miss my former house ~

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  2. Ha, I enjoyed this - I would miss the sound of the waves too. Had to chuckle at the re-assessment after remembering the down side. Good one! A PYTHON. Yikes!

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  3. Some part of us always wants to regret, to compare between what we had and what we have...
    I loved the detail in your poetic listing of pros (hm, not that many) and cons for the old place - and the surprise conclusion delighted me.

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  4. I was all in the mod to tell you that this a lovely poem, sentimental ... looking back to those younger times that we thought were better. Until you let me know that they were not. :) Well done.

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  5. Very funny! I certainly know that kind of nostalgia!

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  6. Funny how we romanticize old memories until we take a chance to really remember how things were.

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  7. I definitely can understand how you would not miss brown snakes!! NOR the pythons!!!! Well expressed.

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  8. Thanks, all. I'm glad the surprise and the joke worked.

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  9. A delightful poem, evoking nostalgia warts and all! My memory works in a strange way: when trying to recall an incident, a place,a date, the answer to a quiz question, my mind instantly goes to where we were living at the time. As I've moved more than 20 times, this is a useful function!

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  10. I've moved more than 20 times too! I'll have to try and use that technique.

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  11. Love the humor in this. Lovely read. :)

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  12. Thank you for reading, magcinthebackyard.

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  13. Proves you can talk yourself in, or out, of anything! LOL ♥

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