Sunday, July 24, 2011

A Distant Bohemia

Image courtesy of Chest of Books/A Distant View of The Powder Tower

A Distant Bohemia

Distant…
The drums of the past beat
cobbled tattoos

Distant…
On the empty streets here
pushcart dreaming
 
Distant…
The Tower calls me on
in shades of grey

Distant…
Memory of a day;
lifetime ago

Distant…
Sepia photograph
brings it all back

Distant…
I thought I let it go,
distanced myself... 

***
Notes:  Poetic Form: Triversen Poetry, a form developed by William Carlos Williams [courtesy of The Poets Garret]; inspired by the prompt from Sunday Scribbling of the word, "Distant.'

24 comments:

  1. We're never far from the past - our own or our country's.

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  2. We think we can leave the past behind but a word, piece of music or photograph can bring it all flooding back in an instant as clear as if it happened right there and then, only, you said it so much more eloquently than I have.
    Lovely prose.

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  3. distance - distance through film - or monochrome - or sepia - the sense of distance so well set up by that picture (great choice) - a melancholic touch to this piece - nice job!

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  4. That last line is the clincher. Gave a whole new meaning to the piece. I reread it with that knowledge and heard a different voice. Well done, RJ.

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  5. Daydreamertoo - Thank you so much for your kind words. It really is amazing how finding a snap of a single moment in time can flood your memory with images you thought were part of a distant history?

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  6. Ostensible Truth - thanks! And indeed. you are right about that concept of the relativity of distance regarding the emotions and memory.

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  7. Kim - coming from you, that is high praise indeed, Thank you so much!

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  8. do share any of your poems with us today.

    http://jinglepoetry.blogspot.com/

    Cheers.

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  9. Echo your words! It takes only a millisecond to rewind to past.

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  10. The past is never far away, RJ, nice one.

    Pamela

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  11. Old photos and postcards of towns I knew allow me to recapture the sights and sounds and even smells of a past long gone...but for me it was only yesterday. I really liked this post.

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  12. I really appreciated this poem. As you know, the past is never far from my own thoughts.

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  13. Awesome poetry. Love the last line most!

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  14. Gorgeous! Absolutely.

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  15. Your first stanza, “The drums of the past beat cobbled tattoos,” really grabbed me and drug me into the poem. What a hook.

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  16. Interesting piece. Love how it reminds us, though we left worlds behind, they still lie close, there for reminicse...

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  17. We leave the past behind, but the past never leaves us...it lays dormant waiting for some spark of memory to bring it all back.
    Powerful ending.

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  18. Loved the imagery in this. I agree, it's amazing how one little thing can bring memories flooding back. Beautiful take on distant. :)

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  19. Wonderful words. I enjoyed reading this very much.

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