Nostalgia | Teen Ink

Nostalgia MAG

January 10, 2011
By PhilosCaelum BRONZE, Lake Stevens, Washington
PhilosCaelum BRONZE, Lake Stevens, Washington
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
“The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.”-Ralph W. Sockman quotes


The clock hands move, clumsy as chopsticks
While cobwebs reside in the place we once played house.
The beaded spiders slumber on the outdated radio
But there's no one else to greet my homecoming,
No soft sway of music or your off-key humming.

I'd forgotten the way our house used to fill with light,
And how we'd charm heat into a pressed winter night.
Now the furniture peeks out from ghostly sheets of dust,
And the window seals are caked in glinting glass.
The letters we exchanged, like teenage confessions,
They're still curled remains in the fireplace ashes.

Complacent pictures litter the cracking walls,
Their subjects posing like remnants of a thought,
In a universe where people weren't gods.
Ancient vines smother one rusted frame,
And your smile is curtailed of even faded color.
But still I smear the dirt away with my thumb,
To catch a glimpse of your eyes before I go numb.

This dance of memories teeters on bittersweet,
Like the last gust of a forgotten summer's heat.
The amber leaves float like clouds in the driveway,
The sidewalk still painted with childish pictures.
One thing remains the same as I pay my last respects,
My head is bowed to my heart as I walk away alone
So grateful I'm both chilled and warmed to the bone.


The author's comments:
Change is a frequent visitor to us all, and it is quite indiscriminate in the way it touches all of our lives...still, sometimes I find myself trailing down memory lane and missing how things used to be, even if I am happy and successful where my life is now. I hope the poem will speak for itself.

"The only reason people hold on to memories so tight is because memories are the only thing that won’t change when everything else does.” -anonymous

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This article has 1 comment.


on Feb. 6 2012 at 11:31 am
snoopy276 BRONZE, Waukesha, Wisconsin
1 article 0 photos 3 comments
I really loved this poem. It was super descriptive and I think I really get what you are trying to say. People change and sometimes really great things can only happen once, no matter what you do to try to recreate them. The imagery was great as well!