Best Flashback Poems


Flashback To Present

The continuous memories scattered inside my mind
All the laughter and loving scenes are left behind
Leaving a life of bad possibilities where I came from
Never getting a chance to show how I overcome


Although it was bad I left something more important
A mother’s smile a little brother and my childhood
The moments that made me hide and stay quiet
Never understood but always wished I could


I wished and watched my life past before my eyes
Hearing lonely nights of my father’s cries
All the women who watched and waited
For the chance their love’ll be overrated


The beating of your heart crashing your chest
Hope dad knows how much I tried 
All the women in and out and never get the best
He tried to hide the feeling with lies


Flashback to the present to resist
pain and a missed checklist
A little girl who was 4 and now 14
Looking at the past to see what it means and what she missed


I’m sorry for not helping when I could
you say it’s not my fault but it should
The countless things that way tons and ounces
Becomes the burned wall that my life announces


My life in the present is a closed book of rejection and regret
I Work harder in the present than in the past, 
without a chance to wipe off the sweat,
Without a chance to make the good memories last

All I’m told is to let it go and let the past be the past
But how am I supposed to forget so soon and so fast?
As much as I try I continue to flashback to those moments
Knowing that even if I do forget, my life won’t have enjoyment


I continue to flashback and come back to the present
There will be no change without consent

Premium Member - Flashback -

                                         Baby Jesus wrapped
                                          in soft tissue paper
                                           Mary and Joseph
                                        in a bubble plastic bag
                                         The three wise men
                                               wrapped in a 
                                           Christmas napkin

                                      The cow is missing an ear
                                     and the sheep have become
                                               slightly yellow -
                                            a donkey and an ox
                                             are also included

                                               No angels sing,
                                         the star is extinguished
                                           History and symbols
                                         placed in a dark cabinet
                                    Same procedure as every year

                                              The mantelpiece
                                                   is empty
                                             Wait and expect
                                               all-consuming
                                            hope is sucked out
                                                 empty mind
                                                 Believe when
                                          all doubt is against you
                                      Enjoy the beautiful dim twilight

Premium Member Woman In a Flashback

From light to dark, I am filled with delusion
Of memories unknown, of emotional strain
Like a hermit to words in moments dismembered
When time became a  riddle, a crazed  labyrinth 
That each flashback becomes a nightmare
Documenting nothing , not even  a whimper.

A quiet wail rattles of stories, from where?
Her web of remembrance, disarranged,
Embalming vignettes from thoughts fading fast
When tremors besiege, yet I suppress the angst;
Till I ask, ‘Woman of fog, scream my name,’
Before fiction becomes a chained reality.



```````````
11/21/2015
Contest: Mirror Of Memories 'Alzheimer's' 
Sponsor: Tammy Reams


Flashback

He looks for her in every face he sees
In hope of just one more glance
Lost in the thought captures his breath
Lids closing over in memory a flashback
Beats thumping hard exploding in his chest
His experience of love - that he once had

A Yuletide Moment Flashback Haiku

playing board games
christmas sugar cookie fun
lemon square custom
© Marty King  Create an image from this poem.

Ice Cream Parlor Flashback Haiku

waffle cone delight
pecan praline delicious
triple scoop indulgence
© Marty King  Create an image from this poem.


Flashback

I had a flashback once
It tipped the Richter scale
Almost right at nine
It took control of me

Before I knew the war was on 
You didn't see my mind
You only heard my fist
Trying to be kind

Help me find my soul
Hylda wants my heart
To hang it on the wall
Help me get it back

I had a flashback once
It took me by surprise
Next thing you were smiling
A sparkle in your eye

Next thing we were dancing
Kissing and romancing
Next thing we were falling
Falling to the sky

Now I'm falling straight into
A streaming fire of blue
Fountain for a flood of passion
Falling hard for you

Was I falling for them
Or falling down into them
Was I falling helplessly
Into a sky of blue

We'll never know
I never dreamed that part
I never dreamed the part about 
Your mother and your dad

Next thing we were falling
Falling in and out
You saved me, I was drowning
Shadow of a doubt

Don't forget to breathe
Don't bet on thirteen
Never let it go
Listen to your dream

Lay it on the line
A diamond or a spade
Never let your color
Show another shade

Never let your sorrow
Over take your heart
Dedicate your legend
Rising to the part

Help me get it half way there
And get it half way square
That or get it back to here
And carry on from there

Listen to your mother
Try to find your brother
Try to find your sister
Your children one another

Surpass until they're grown
Children of their own
Character in each
Friendliness to teach

Exceeding expectation
Defeating all demand
Outshine every means of light
A kind and gentle hand

Flashback

Was a romance for the books. Didn't care about the looks. Maybe a little old school but yea my heart she did be took. By the way that she could cook. And the way her body shook. And the way that she got on top and made it straighter than a rook. She was the wisest on the seen. Quick to hustle. Get that green. But little did I know it was a play behind the scenes. While I'm planning up our wedding you're out doing anything... Legs never closing. Dumped for a brother with a little more ching. Silly grown girl, money isn't everything. But that just shows that you'd rather be a rich man's whore than a poor man's queen. But I got another girl that will appreciate. The acts of love that I demonstrate. She holds me down. Keeps me right. And she's always happy love her every night. But I can't say that it is easy. Heck, it's anything from breezy. But what separates her from you is that she told me that she needs me. And to think I really loved you. Never put no one above you. But you were thottin and fire crotchin. I should've wore a glove dude. You were purely acting out. Now you're sitting with a pout. Cuz you're a flashback now.        (Inspired by eminem ft Rihanna- love the way you lie.)

The Flashback

I was about four,
Was sitting on the shore.
And it was around two,
That’s when I met you.

You were strolling down the beach,
In your hand you held a peach.
On your face you had a smile,
And you wore the latest style.

You turned to look at me,
And then you smiled with glee.
“I might get a friend” You said 
And happily shook your head.

Towards me you made your way,
From the big beautiful bay.
“Hey there “ said I
And then you said “hi!”

`Bout ourselves we talked,
Through the beach we walked.
Quick friends we became
And then we played a game.

This was last December,
The time I always remember.
As I hold my guitar and strum,
Thinking about the days to come.

Flashback

Sharp pain in shoulders
I've been told that this will come
broken neck outcome

Premium Member A Flashback-Win

I remember those days of long summer
Oh, the joys of school summer vacation
Of playing hide and seek to endless hours
Pretending to slay the ferocious dragon
And to catch the notorious dacoit Ravan.

When all else played, at trees we looked up
In the hope to find the juiciest fruit mango
Now we looked down, mangos looked up.
Before I could satisfy my hunger with amigos
Were chased out by fuming gardener Rodrigo.

And still not giving up, seeking other means
To the neighbor’s fence we would climb over
Lurk in the shadows when all clear and clean
Obliged juicy fruits that calling us under cover
Less forbidding but exciting, if not any more. 

                       +++++++


Form Quintain
Eighth place win
Contest: No.8 by Linda

Flashback - Part 1

The year was 1956
and I distinctly recall 
my mother's lovely face
as she told me 
Szererlek (I love you) 

and as I seen her lovely smile
I remember her face
as she held back bittersweet tears
tying to hold the impression
that everything was alright and I 
as a youth did not fully
comprehend the situation
going on at the time....... 
I asked my mother
Anyu , miért sírsz ? (Mother, why are you crying?)
and she replied....
Ez semmi fiam , én rendben lesz
(It's nothing my son, I will be alright)

all while hearing the rough and
very bitter voice of my father say......
Nidia , te ribanc ! hol vagytok ?!
(Nidia, you whore! where are you?!)

all while she bitterly weeps
going to his side again, once more
in his violent tone he says......
Nidia , te kurva ! hol van az italom ?!
(Nidia, you ***** ! where is my drink?!)

all while she wept quietly 
going to the refrigerator
and getting his stale
cognac and bitter wine
all while these two drinks
have not even gotten cold yet......

She serves him the drinks
he spits them out, get's up
and says..... 
Te hülye kurva !, akkor soha semmit van! 

(You stupid whore!, you could never do anything right!)

as again I see daddy, giving mommy
one of his usual love taps 
a punch to the stomach 
and a slap to the face
all to match the black eye
she has already received.....
It is 12:00 at night
I lay in my bed......
mommy kisses me goodnight
and she says in a soft, calming whisper 
Ez semmi fiam , én rendben lesz
(It's nothing my son, I will be alright)

all while daddy was asleep 
in the other room, knocked out from
having his usual 
cocktail of painkillers, 
stale cognac and bitter while
this time...... it was cold

Mommy tucks me in 
kisses me on the forehead
cuts off my lights
and says.... jóéjt fiam (goodnight my son)


I..... still awake, and with 
the inability to slumber
I sneak out my bedside
and witness in my mothers 
hands, the Ak-47 assault rifle 
that my father had stole
during the Hungarian revolution......

My father (who was knocked out)
was unaware of what was staring 
at him in the face......

and my mother...... 
with her hand on the trigger
says in her melancholy voice......
ez a vég.....(this is the end.....)
and puts a bullet through his head.....

Flashback To Fridays

Flashback to Fridays when I was a wanted guest
a common companion strolling the riverside
with more than just the moon willing to chat
where words resonated with hand-cut diamonds
lighting up my vision and your restful eyes
where missed lessons were backtracked 
and praise was left to pigeons hiding
in the shadows pretending not to be seen

Harlequin days have passed us on by
and what once were sailboat dreams 
have quietly motored ahead
I'm relegated to slip silently in the cracks
chasing down demons with a crooked stick
fighting off the famine in air too thick
left with thoughts lingering in a darkened sky
broken in heart and spirit I'm left to die
© Tim Smith  Create an image from this poem.

Flashback

Disgust
Guilt
Fear
I felt dirty
Trapped in 2006
Experiencing the cold floor
Seeing from a 3rd person view
While feeling from a first person experience
I could not leave
I was stuck in a memory
Of unbelievable horror
14 years later
Haunted by the actions
Of someone I trusted
I loved 
Betrayed in an instant

Premium Member Flashbacks


memories come creeping
flashbacks to grief
ignoring the happy moments I treasure
in my soul

Get a Premium Membership
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace