With thoughts in my mind and hope in my heart
I set about walking to the top of the hill
So I could look down on the town I was born
That I had left so many years ago
It has gorwn of course and changed so much
With one way traffic and conjested roads
Which is no surprise as towns grow up too
But sang soft song of love from long ago
Why did I go back? I hear you ask me
With sand and cement in every town
Perhaps to see the school I once was taught
And roam the woods and streams of long ago
Or walk to the railway's station now changed
Steam engines have disappeared from sight
Now provides a carpark for hundreds of cars
Recall just six, seventy years ago
Perhaps relive the trials of growing up
Queuing at cinemas ticket booth
Kissing first girlfriend by the parks gate
What a mercy I recall those days long ago
Image found at https://keithpp.wordpress.com/2015/08/22/afternoon-in-farnham-43/
Recalling the days of long ago can certainly be a merciful experience, especially when the present is often so dreadful!
ReplyDeleteI haven't been back to the neighborhood I grew up in for ages. My folks moved out of there years ago, and I haven't had a lot of incentive to visit. But I do wonder sometimes what has changed since I left it half a lifetime ago.
ReplyDeleteYour first two lines tell me that you go with an open mind and heart. To the top of the hill gives one perspective on the past and the present. Hopefully, there is balance somewhere in between.
ReplyDeleteSo lovely to read you once again and share your trip back home ❤️
ReplyDeleteRemembering is a delight... And being able to remember in the same spots where the memories were conceived is a gift. It's one of the reasons why my Piano Man and I reenact our first date every year.
ReplyDeleteI love trips back to the places of long-ago. I plan one in September. I love your line about roaming the woods and streams of long ago. My sleepy little childhood town is now an urban centre. But the hills, lake and weeping willows are still the same. I love your poem, Robin.
ReplyDeleteMemory lane can be the sweetest. I think it's a divine gift to be able to recall specific memories
ReplyDeleteThe perspective on how much it has changed is really only in our memories....
ReplyDeleteLovely! Reminds me of how I felt when I visited the small town I grew up in. Yes, "towns grow up too".
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderfully poignant and introspective, Robin!❤️
ReplyDeleteThis is lovely. That "...just six, seventy years ago" caught me up. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI love going back to visit the places of my childhood. You captured it well here. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteMy mother still lives in the house where she raised us six siblings in Orlando, FL. My town has changed drastically since I grew up there and has become one of the top locales for vacationers and visitors in the world...way too busy and far too "grown up" for my liking. I enjoyed your quiet musings.
ReplyDeleteIt is so much fun yet sadness in recollecting all those bygone days. But one can rejoice in the blessings that contributed to our well-being along the way!
ReplyDeleteHank
Some people say that there’s no going back, but sometimes you just have to. I’m glad you have satisfied your longing, Robin, and that you still have fond memories.
ReplyDeleteA beautifully nostalgic piece from the given words.
ReplyDeleteGorwn? :)
One-way streets are an invention of the devil guaranteed to create congestion, and yet people persist in thinking that they are a good idea.
It’s a wonderful thing to have those memories. The guy next door to us was born in that same house. Now he is fixing it up with his girlfriend.
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