I looked at my reflection in the stream
As child I played there now that's all a dream
Certain the swirling water knew me still
The young boy that waded there not yet ten
Nor yet tasted the dish of Chicken Kiev
So used to roast beef meals or Irish stews
Or fried eggs listening to the wars news
But I survived that terrible time intact
Well fitted by lifes instances in fact
Grateful too, finding sweet full lips on girl
To give me sweet kisses and children three
Who was a great cook to please me so much
At table and in bed lulled me to sleep
The best of wives gone, so sadly I weep
Image found at https://keithpp.wordpress.com/2014/02/01/and-yet-more-rain
Just as an aside the picture shows the river that ran through the town where I lived during and a few years after the war (WW2). I only discovered when married that my wife used to play there with her sister and no doubt keeping well clear us boys wading in the water!
Such a poignant piece - and I'm sure they weren't avoiding you boys
ReplyDeleteHow amazing that as children both you and your wife knew the same river. You had such a wonderfully happy marriage, Robin. How you must miss her.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful place to play in. I like your childhood reminisce and especially poignant to learn that you and your wife both had enjoyed this same river as children.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting our two offerings share the same motif for a reflection on life- not the first time that's happened either, I think... Your take particularly poignant, as Jea says...
ReplyDeleteBittersweet memories!
ReplyDeleteOh wow. My fanciful mind immediately conjured an image of the river as a matchmaker, and now as a confidant who knows how much you meant to each other.
ReplyDeleteA captivating riverside remembrance.
ReplyDeleteA lovely scene. And what a coincidence that you both played there as children but didn't discover it until later.
ReplyDeleteI bet memory puts you there together while you were both super young, even if it never happened... But memory is so good at that, at giving us gifts (when we think them up).
ReplyDeleteThis is such an evocative poem, Robin ❤️ I love the image of the riverside that connects you both together.
ReplyDeleteLife before the Chicken Kiev is captured in the reflection where past and present meet. A loving and sad poem.
ReplyDeleteSo sweet sadness.
ReplyDeleteFrom next door
ReplyDeleteTime flows away like a stream. Water through our fingers. What is at the end? Our loved ones I hope.
ReplyDeleteI love your flash back and the sweetness of time's hands~ It really does highlight and soften our view~ A sad, but beautiful read~
ReplyDeleteSad and sweet poem.Must be hard without her.Courage mon vieux !
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