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Passing Through

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Published 1st October 2022

Image by gR

this train I’m on is passing through a town and place I thought I knew yet as it slows before it stops I've seen a road and set of shops that since I left have until now remained the same but changed somehow.

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Sara Kendrick

Date: 5/2/2025 1:20:00 PM

Congratulations on this winner. Way to go. So delighted to see it on the winners' list. Sara K

Gary Radice
Date: 5/3/2025 12:32:00 AM

Thank you Sara and I share your feelings: I too was delighted to see it on the winners’ list. :) Much appreciated. Cheers - Gary

Paige Hind

Date: 8/2/2024 8:36:00 AM

Hmmm this is intriguing. A journey-

Gary Radice
Date: 8/2/2024 3:07:00 PM

Thanks for passing through Paige and leaving your comments. Cheers - Gary

Gordon Mcconnell

Date: 6/10/2023 12:20:00 PM

Fine writing Gary, with nice rhyme and flow., Brings memories of going back to younger years where I was brought up but never the same as what it once was. Have a great weekend, Gordon

Gary Radice
Date: 6/11/2023 6:45:00 AM

I hear you Gordon. It's never the same is it? I suppose as we get older and places change the chasm between the place then and now grows wider and we are left with just snapshots of a time long gone. Hope all is well with you North of the Border and thank you for your valued comments. Cheers - Gary

Sam Kauffman

Date: 2/8/2023 9:58:00 AM

Gary, so much wisdom in your brevity. You are so right. When we go back to a place that once was home I think we want to experience it as we once did. But, it seems to me, that even if we can't do just that we have the opportunity to create a new experience - sometimes positive, sometimes negative. Sometimes we grieve. Sometimes we find new ways to find joy. Congratulations on your win! Cheers!

Gary Radice
Date: 2/9/2023 4:56:00 AM

Hi Sam. I hear what you say and totally agree. Thanks for that angle on thngs, it's very much appreciated. Cheers - Gary

John Watt

Date: 2/4/2023 10:42:00 PM

"You can't go back" (or can you?) This train ride into the town of our youth is deliciously ambiguous as to what is the same and what has changed. Really what has changed is our shift of perception as we age (that porch/fence/yard seems so much smaller!) as well as people moving/growing up/dying, though the roads/buildings/bridges remain pretty much the same. Love how deeply introspective you can get in such a concise space. Wonderful to read you again, my friend. I salute your contest win ~ John

Gary Radice
Date: 2/5/2023 4:38:00 AM

Thanks once again John. In addition to my brief return to my hometown a few months ago, the poem was (in part) inspired by a short story I read at junior school called 'The Road' by a Liverpool novelist, James Hanley. It's about a man returning to his home town and seeing and 'feeling' the changes and ultimately not feeling part of the town where he grew up. I need to track it down again. It was part of a collection of 'Modern Short Stories' (so called in the early 70s.) Perhaps not so modern now but no less influential to me :) Cheers - Gary

David Bose

Date: 2/2/2023 7:20:00 AM

Gary, I enjoy little "ditties" like this, poems I can just breeze through and have fun ... I find as years pass by I constantly find places are changed "somehow". Very nice, Dave

Gary Radice
Date: 2/3/2023 5:02:00 AM

Thanks for reading David. I've found as I grow older that places change but sometimes my mindset doesn't. It stands still. And is then shaken and stirred. :) I appreciate your comments. Cheers - Gary

Curtis Johnson

Date: 2/2/2023 6:51:00 AM

Good work. This reminds me of me and my once upon a-hometown. Blessings.

Gary Radice
Date: 2/3/2023 4:59:00 AM

Hi Curtis. I live about 10 miles from my hometown, yet since both my parents died (over 15 years ago) I've rarely been back. I went a few months ago just to look and had that feeling of 'things being the same but different'. Thanks for your visit and comments. Cheers - Gary

Julia Ward

Date: 2/2/2023 12:37:00 AM

Excellent. Well done.

Gary Radice
Date: 2/2/2023 3:02:00 AM

Thanks Julia. Much appreciated. Cheers - Gary

Janice Canerdy

Date: 2/1/2023 2:39:00 PM

Gary, CONGRATS on your win. Janice

Gary Radice
Date: 2/2/2023 3:07:00 AM

Thanks Janice. I've slowed down with my PS poetry output recently so didn't really have that many poems to choose from for Julia's contest. I like the poem but it was a surprise getting a podium place with it. Cheers - Gary

Linda Alice Fowler

Date: 2/1/2023 10:54:00 AM

I remember reading this before Gary. I liked it then, and doubly now! Congratulations on your win! :)

Gary Radice
Date: 2/2/2023 3:08:00 AM

That's lovely of you to say so Linda thank you. I appreciate the time you've taken to revisit and comment. Cheers - Gary

Bryan Norton

Date: 10/20/2022 6:51:00 PM

My favorite 30 minutes of television-ever-is the episode "Walking Distance" from the original Twilight Zone-Season 1 (1959). You seem to be tapping into my TV fantasies. I'm sorry. Your poem is exquisite!

Gary Radice
Date: 10/21/2022 1:38:00 AM

Hi Bryan. Considering my love of all things Cult TV I have to hold my hands up and say that apart from the ill fated Film of the TZ in the '80s I've only seen one episode of the original. It was that episode whereby a guy on a plane notices a creature outside on the wing! :) I may now have to discover TZ again via YouTube or Prime. Cheers - Gary

Elizabeth Mccann

Date: 10/19/2022 3:53:00 PM

Masterful depiction of that feeling of falling inside. A return visit to Ohio after 20 or so years: the grass was still just as wonderful green, the trees so shady and sheltering, but everything else seemed made of cardboard. Elizabeth

Gary Radice
Date: 10/20/2022 1:26:00 AM

I like your comment, Elizabeth, more than I like my poem. :) Just wonderful. Thank you! Cheers - Gary

Michelle Faulkner

Date: 10/18/2022 3:16:00 PM

I like the wistful melancholy memory of this, and it does mimic the beat of a train going by, very expressive!

Gary Radice
Date: 10/19/2022 2:14:00 AM

Thank you Michelle! The intention to mimic the beat of a train wasn't intentional but fits in beautifully with the poem. I appreciate your lovely comments. Cheers - Gary

Bill Baker

Date: 10/11/2022 4:40:00 PM

The last two lines are powerful, Gary. It's amazing how everything changes as our awareness and perception grows. I enjoy the thought-provoking poem very much, my friend. Write On! Bill

Gary Radice
Date: 10/12/2022 2:10:00 AM

Thanks Bill. I'm glad you enjoyed the poem. 'Nothing stays the same' as the old saying goes. Cheers - Gary

David Kavanagh

Date: 10/7/2022 11:45:00 AM

I was just passing through Gary, and am delighted I got off to read your poem, the succinct style here works really well and gets the reader thinking, it’s strange every time I go to the mountainous countryside, where nothing has changed since I was a kid, it all looks somehow lower or smaller, time certainly changes our perception of reality, or maybe reality just changes perception itself, excellent observational work, cheers David

Gary Radice
Date: 10/8/2022 12:31:00 AM

Hi David. Your comments offer up so much food for thought - Thank you. In all honesty I've been blown away by all the comments left on this particular poem. The subjects of change and identity run deep. Cheers - Gary

Deb M

Date: 10/6/2022 2:41:00 AM

I like this Gary…for me it has a little of the Bus Stop vibe and as you know i loved the Bus Stop! Debx

Gary Radice
Date: 10/6/2022 3:37:00 AM

Deb, thank you for stopping here to read rather than passing through. :) Cheers - Gary

Timothy Ray

Date: 10/5/2022 12:36:00 PM

i too love this simplicity....and the beauty herein for me, returning where life has moved on without you....great job Gary

Gary Radice
Date: 10/5/2022 10:59:00 PM

Thank you Timothy. " life has moved on without you'" - That's certainly a feeling I get whenever I return. Cheers - Gary

Peter Rees

Date: 10/5/2022 4:51:00 AM

Beautifully simple construction which says so much in so few words. Sometimes changes around us can happen almost overnight, perhaps making us question reality.

Gary Radice
Date: 10/5/2022 5:28:00 AM

Thank you Peter. I'm so glad you're back posting poems at The Soup and I appreciate your valued comments. Cheers - Gary

Ann Peck

Date: 10/4/2022 9:36:00 AM

A short poem with a big impact! It's hard looking now at things we once saw with younger eyes. I love this little gem!

Gary Radice
Date: 10/5/2022 5:01:00 AM

Thanks Ann. I'm glad you like it. Yes, places change and so do we. Cheers - Gary

Speaks Volumes

Date: 10/1/2022 8:54:00 PM

Its strange when familiar places change, sometimes because of progress, and sometimes because of neglect and decay. Either way it can cause a sense of dismay. Your poem offers reflections for the reader to ponder Gary. I love that in your poems. So eloquently put, in such a short piece of poetry.

Gary Radice
Date: 10/2/2022 1:49:00 AM

I couldn't agree more Wendy regarding your comments about change. Thank you and I'm very grateful for your comments about my poetry too. Cheers - Gary

Terry Flood

Date: 10/1/2022 3:13:00 PM

I could only dream of the ability to write such succinct lines, Gary. To do so and still craft a fully formed and self contained ‘story’ is a gift. Maybe I’ll have a chat to Santa. Terry

Gary Radice
Date: 10/2/2022 2:06:00 AM

Thanks Terry. Sometimes the shorter poems take me longer to write for some weird reason but after spending the best part of 2 days on my last poem it was with a big sigh of relief that this one took me all of 15 minutes from initial idea to publishing it. I look forward to a Terry Flood Santa poem in the next month or so. :) Cheers - Gary

L Milton Hankins

Date: 10/1/2022 9:02:00 AM

Another fine offering from the pen of Gary Radice! I loved it, and I could relate to it. The minimum of words and short lines were a bit of a surprise for me...not what I think of as your style. Nicely done, Gary.

Gary Radice
Date: 10/2/2022 2:14:00 AM

Thanks Milt. Interestingly - or not as the case may be :) - the idea for this 'shorty' came from another poem of mine 'Vacancies' which is of usual Rad length and picks up on the same theme, namely the blight of change on our nostalgia for times and places past. Cheers - Gary