Thursday, November 12, 2009

An historic poem

Well it's "historic" in so far as it's one which I added to the Guardian Poster Poems for the "History" topic, although I did always mean to go back and write something more. I'll probably never get round to it, so here it is in its original form for now...

Your history:

History weighs heavy on your eyelids
Now almost lacking the strength to unblink.
Caught in the wrinkles of your sunken face
Memories long lost, but never replaced.
We know your past better than you do now,
Gently steering your familiar tales.
But still we know so little of your life.
Your hopes and dreams, the sights which you have seen,
Are fading in the flickering twilight
Of your once vibrant eyes, now turned to grey.
History that once gave such sweet escape
Now lurks, an unknown beast in your shadow.

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2 comments:

  1. loved the feel, although it's so sad...

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  2. Oh yes, it is terribly sad. I watched two grandparents struggle with alzheimers and it used to strike me that the forgotten things almost took on a life of their own. They never really left, they lurked around reminding us all that they'd been forgotten. And I always wished at those times that I knew the things so I could fill the gaps.

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