Where the Old Sycamore Grew

“to hold, as ‘twere, the mirror up to nature”  William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1601


                                          +++++



The house seemed smaller, seen with older eyes...
The street seemed narrower, the trees taller..
Where once were open fields across the road
New construction had bloomed
The small fruit orchard had disappeared

But somehow we knew it would still be there....
Strangely different, ...yet the same
There was an unfamiliar small red tricycle
On the flagstone path that we laid...
In front of this little house that lies
Beyond the curve, where the old sycamore grew...

Suddenly, thirty years faded into that autumn day
And quickly had become a springtime of our lives..... 
...of first Christmas trees,..of first anniversaries...
            ...a place where I cried night after night when mother died...
                       ...and spent long, starry nights holding newborn babes....
Yes....it is all still there, in the little yellow house

Funny, but I'm glad they kept the yellow...
It has the same white shutters...
The little yellow house, with a flagstone pathway that we laid
That sits beyond the curve, where the old sycamore grew...

                                                ++++++


4/20/11  Submitted for Constance La'France's Contest "The Tree"
By Carrie Richards
Copyright © | Year Posted 2011


Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Date: 4/26/2011 11:19:00 AM
Excellent. This was a great 'ride'. Very nice, I liked this a lot.
Login to Reply
Date: 4/26/2011 5:59:00 AM
Congratulations Carrie on your win in Constance's "The Tree" contest. Love, Carol
Login to Reply
Date: 4/25/2011 8:38:00 AM
Congratulations on your 1st place win, Carrie! :)
Login to Reply
Date: 4/25/2011 7:18:00 AM
Very nice nostalgic poem.Congrats Carrie on your 1st place win.Thanks for your kind comments at my pages---kashinath
Login to Reply
Date: 4/25/2011 4:34:00 AM
Laine this is so lovely. Beautiful. Many many congrats.
Login to Reply
Date: 4/24/2011 3:02:00 PM
Congratulations on the win in the contest of Constance, Carrie
Login to Reply
Date: 4/24/2011 8:53:00 AM
Many congrats on your first place and all your other super wins : )
Login to Reply
Date: 4/24/2011 5:31:00 AM
you are in a roll, carrie.. love your metaphors here.. congrats for the topping the list with hugggs! :)
Login to Reply
Date: 4/24/2011 4:13:00 AM
congratulations on your 1st place win with this vivid nostalgic take on the theme...
Login to Reply
Date: 4/23/2011 8:51:00 PM
Congrats Carrie on your first place win in the Tree contest.. a great way to celebrate the Easter holiday with this wonderful win luv..
Login to Reply
Date: 4/23/2011 6:36:00 PM
Awesome to see you at the top again Carrie, Congratulations on your worthy poem honor in first place.
Login to Reply
Date: 4/23/2011 5:36:00 PM
Hey, so I gave you that book? I did not even remember. well, I am proud to share a spot with THIS poem.Outstanding it is. Congratulations. Luv ya,andrea
Login to Reply
Date: 4/23/2011 5:33:00 PM
Carrie, Congratulations on your first-place win! Have a happy Easter. Love, Carolyn
Login to Reply
Date: 4/23/2011 5:05:00 PM
This is so very touching, Carrie. I am so happy to see it at the top of the winners circle where it belongs. Love, Lainie
Login to Reply
Date: 4/23/2011 4:37:00 PM
Congratulations, Carrie, on first place in my contest, your poem really spoke to my soul, as I too, went back to my childhood home and my favorite tree was still there, well done, amazing poetry, I will forward your certificate to the address I have~~
Login to Reply
Date: 4/22/2011 8:45:00 AM
a touching piece of moving poetry, enjoyed it. thank you for commenting on Quite Little Child.
Login to Reply
Date: 4/21/2011 9:29:00 PM
It's too bad the orchard is gone, Carrie. Seeing this house again must bring back memories both joyful and painful. I can't go back and look at the place where I grew up. I think it would be too overwhelming now that my parents are gone. Sending winnng wishes your way, dear. Love, Carolyn
Login to Reply
Date: 4/21/2011 3:05:00 PM
carrie, this is just wonderful and I hope to see it very high in the contest. I love these kinds of poems reminding us of the Old days. How things change and yet the remnants are there looking a bit out of place. If you ever publish a book with all the hot poems of yours that i love, be sure to let me know.
Login to Reply
Date: 4/21/2011 1:20:00 PM
Well done....
Login to Reply
Date: 4/21/2011 6:22:00 AM
This is so thoughtful dear poet ! I just love when the poets write to charm our hearts of yester-year ! And what a wonderful thought to prologue this write with a bard we all admire ! Have a wonderful week Carrie....much love, james
Login to Reply
Date: 4/21/2011 5:39:00 AM
Thank you for supporting my contest. Beautiful!
Login to Reply
Date: 4/20/2011 7:44:00 PM
Oh, youve done it again..just lovely..it made me think of going back to see the first house we owned..how dare they change the color? lol..BG
Login to Reply
Get a Premium Membership
Get more exposure for your poetry and more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Reflection on the Important Things

Member Area

My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder

Soup Social

Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us

Member Poems

Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread

Member Poets

Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest

Famous Poems

Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100

Famous Poets

Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War

Poetry Resources

Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter