Not-So-Distant Past

We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new experience and character. - Thoreau

.

reels spinning

light flickering

i hear the whirring of the talking picture, reflections machine

film moving front to back

fed through the careful, narrow, watchful lens of the projector in my soul

scenes played out in magnetic memories

colorized joyous times

black and white moments better left for dead

overexposed

underexposed

stirring emotions

mixing feelings

ker-tuck, ker-tuck, ker-tuck as it reaches  an orbicular, restless end

this movie has not yet been rated

it remains to be debated

fair or unfair

you had to be there

Author's Note

"I should say that the useful results of science had accumulated, but that there had been no accumulation of knowledge, strictly speaking, for posterity; for knowledge is to be acquired only by a corresponding experience. How can we know what we are told merely? Each man can interpret another's experience only by his own." - Thoreau

Reviews

[Ken Simm.]

Can I say first of all nostalgia ain't what it used to be. That has nothing really to do with this poem but I do feel the flickers of b lack and white film throughout this. The dust motes in the projectors beam and the messages put across by this interesting intelligent poem of memories

[Pete]

thanks ken. true - things are changing so quickly that there seems to be little time for nostalgia. memories leave their mark and we project them through our lenses for all to see good or bad ... :)

[Fabian G. Franklin]

The future is what it will be, and partially of what we can make of it for ourselves. The past, the past is built to last, unchanging and irrevocable. Some want to rewrite history with lies. But in this fast-paced, here today-gone tomorrow culture we live in where technology moves faster than human intellect, it's a comfort to me to know there are things that don't change. My memories of growing up; my mothers smile, my father's voice, remain the same in memory. They are gone, these many years, but I can recall them plainly. I like the old movies, the old TV shows, the antique and novelty shops bearing relics of the past. They remind me of how things were in a simpler, gentler time when it seems people took more time for each other and courtesy, respect and kindness weren't mere ideals to aspire to, they were staples of everyday living. I'm lately watching all the episodes of MASH my loving wife bought me on video just because I said that I missed the show. Now, she watches them with me and is as excited to see the next episode as I am, even though I've seen them all before. But just because we treasure the past, it doesn't negate the pleasure of new experiences or adventures. I so love seeing things through my seven year old's eyes and seeing her discover new things. We caught a racoon in a live trap the other day and looked him over pretty good before setting him free. It was an experience for us all, including the raccoon. (smile) But he didn't seem to hold a grudge at all. We go on nature hikes and explore the outdoors and put in time getting exercise as well as time spent in from of flickering screens. I enjoyed the read, F.

[Pete]

wow. man keeps sucking more and more humanity out of life with technology. people walking around with cell phones not paying attention in front of them, ordering things online without ever leaving the house. if you watch the news, people are increasingly losing the ability to be social and relate to one another as in those days of yesteryear you mention. interesting that you mention MASH - my favorite that i still watch for an hour to this day. i've seen all the episodes so many times that i actually know what each actor will say. MASH is a show about humanity in a sometimes inhumane world. at my former residence on a dirt road in the woods, loved the experience of visitors - an owl, a red fox, herd of deer, turkeys. i wanted so much for my kids to be outside more experiencing such things instead of playing xbox in the house. when older, which will a person remember more fondly - playing a video game or seeing a wild animal in the yard? change is never an easy thing but the older i get the more i find my thoughts going back to simpler times where people mattered more than a quick buck or convenient living. i worry about the world my kids are growing up in. each generation leaves their mark, i only hope that those marks are memorable and kind. thanks for the wonderful share f. ... :)

[Fabian G. Franklin]

Great chat, my friend. I enjoyed it. We have much in common.

[Cherrie]

Even if you had been there you might not believe it.
Love the old school feel to it. The first screening of what we call life.

[Pete]

thanks cherrie. so true. truth can be stranger than fiction. there's just something about black and white and going back in time to relive ... :)

[Cherrie]

That is about all we watch anymore is old black and whites