Best Reminiscing Poems
Sitting under this Weeping Willow
tree, I think of yesterdays gone by.
The special times I spent with my
Mom and Dad, I reminisce and cry.
They're no longer here, God took
them to a better place, away from
me.
Mom said," If I ever leave, look for
me in the clouds my son, that's
where I'll always be."
Now I go through life wishing I had
spent more time with them.
Wishing, I could go back in time
and relive my life again.
On a beautiful sunny day when those
beautiful clouds roam free.
I see the outline of my Mother's face,
like she said, my Mother, Anais.
There's little left now, Lawson, mate, of your home by the hill,
Except, a guarding sentinel, the chimney stands there still;
To some it's just another site, for tourists passing through,
Perhaps they've never read your works - how sad, but maybe true.
Eurunderee and childhood days, please tell me if I'm wrong,
Instilled in you mixed memories and feelings, oh so strong.
Yes, monumental moments mate; the hardship and the joy.
They brought to mind old childhood days when I was just a boy.
Is that your Dad with shouldered axe and wand'ring off somewhere?
His cross-cut saw with him as well. I'm sure it's him, I swear.
The dark haired lady on the log and scribbling on a pad;
Your Mum I guess at work on verse; she taught you well my lad.
Old grandpa Albury's visiting and dons his greasy hat.
I know it's him, no other soul could ever shout like that.
The muck on brother Charlie's face. It's not Jim Nowlett's brew?
He surely can't believe that tale, 'cause none of it is true.
I see young brother Peter mate is tending cows again.
You mentioned how they liked to stray. You're right, they are a pain.
Is that a horseman riding up and pack horse by his side?
It can't be old Dave Regan. No! They told me he had died.
If Billy Grimshaw's teams passed now, his bales of wool so high,
He couldn't swear from being bogged; the bitumen runs by.
The gold has long but disappeared, though grape vines grow here still;
Red wine is known around the world; I know, I've had my fill.
I can't stay any longer mate I've got a way to go;
To join up with my poet friends, up Queensland way you know.
I'm glad though that I stopped a while to reminisce with you,
Like Banjo mate, deep down within, I saw you as true blue.
Sewing machine long idle, gathered dust
inside the room my sister liked the best.
Old fabric pieces lay where they’d been left.
I let my hand upon soft velvet rest.
I lit a candle like she used to do
nights of our youth when she’d gone there to keep
her mind off her young groom who’d gone to war
and not returned. Sometimes I’d hear her weep.
The war years seemed like only yesterday
when mother , then my sister, passed away.
All those years she’d sewn for pay, heart-broken!
She’d chosen - with our mom - alone to stay.
My fingers lingered on the velvet meant
to have been worn by her so as to spark
romance with her lost love. Unsewn it lay.
The candle sputtered, spent, and all was dark.
April 28, 2018 for Viv Wigley's One nine and sixteen poetry contest
(total fiction except I have a sister who loved to sew!)
Corrugated rhythm of the perforated heart
in the pulse of inspiration torn asunder, peeled apart
with the movement of discovery proving false in every start
as we danced the dance with no interpretation
Celebrated virtue of the lasting and the free
who have bent the will of romance glowing blind until they see
that the wise man is the single lonely voice in his decree
as they waltz the waltz with loneliness of footstep
Convuluted memory of the passion as we age
as our brain re-reads the paragraph on one determined page
where we left our heart with someone who in love did us engage
as we stepped the steps of someone else's dream
Corolated stringing of the music of the mind
in the heart beat of the moment I'm abated yet in time
with the fit of inspiration telling me you once were mine
as I pass the past a shadow reminiscing.
One wonderful trait about being human is the ability to reminisce…
to remember people, places, things and moments
that have happened…that we miss.
Take our house for instance
its floors and walls and ceiling are lined
with a myriad of memories our children left behind.
Floating in the air…they wait…and we would be remiss
If we didn’t stop and catch a few….
If we didn’t reminisce.
It’s like dipping our hand in the water as we float along a stream…
catching handfuls of our memories
times we laughed and loved and dreamed…
Today as we were cleaning out a drawer
we found a bookmark, that had years ago been misplaced
It was yellow…made of felt
with a little smile for a face.
A little yellow bookmark
picked out of the river flow…
A little yellow bookmark
made by tiny hands so long ago…
A little yellow bookmark…spanning a time continuum so vast
A little yellow bookmark…linking our present to our past…
A little yellow bookmark…
reminding us of a moment in time we miss…
marking that moment forever
every time we reminisce.
This morning I
Allowed God to open his hands
I wanted to see
My space in the universe
To find some meaning
For the the sixty years I traversed his grace
And never reached the edge of it
I wanted see again
The zig-zag path of my search
But the water gnawed the sand
Where my footprints were stored
In the world of God's hand
This morning I
May never know where the road bends
Or where it will go up a hill
I only know that I follow a calling
That following it before
Make all meanings strange to me
For faith determines nothing
More than an agreement to be pliable
No matter what
The sunrise comes to me
And the sunset leaves me here
In God's hand I
Have no where to go
Nothing more to know
Than there is no edge near my feet
I have lost a lot of friends
A lot of my friends from back then
Time has stolen them from me
I am not even certain
Of how they met their end ‘
But you specifically
Do you remember
In Nursery school, we used to play
Eat dirt, swing and slay monsters all-day
But now I can’t even remember your name
Rest in peace my friend You will always live as a part of me
I have lost a lot of friends
A lot of my friends from back then
The distance between us stole them from me
I am not even certain
If their end was excruciating or sudden and easy
But you specifically.
Do you remember?
In primary school
you always let me copy mathematics
When Mrs. Githafu was checking and marking
We were at the back bench laughing waiting for breaks
Just so we could play
I am so sorry I can’t even remember your name
It’s been too long since then
Rest in peace my friend You will always live as a part of me
I have lost a lot of friends
A lot of my friends from back then
Life just stole them from me
I am not even certain
If in the end they saw a light or was it just darkness?
But you specifically.
Do you remember?
We met during the music festivals
Back in Nakuru, when we were in high school
Some of my friends who are dead like you
Pushed me to say hi
I remember your smile, it was so beautiful
Your replies, you were so kind
But your name
I am so sorry I can’t remember your name
Rest in peace my friend You will always live as a part of me
I have lost a lot of friends
A lot of my friends from back then
My search for more stole them from me
Buried under the thousands of followers just for the sake of numbers
But you specifically.
Do you remember?
I remember the excitement of my first Facebook friend
Back in 09’
my first Instagram post with a double tap
Back in 12’
They were all from you, my biggest friend I never met
But you forgot to send me an invite to your burial
Still, I can’t quite remember your name
Rest in peace my friend You will always live as a part of me
Casting my mind back many a year
To childhood days spent catching bees
Those long gone memories do bring a tear
Playing with friends in the summer breeze
A simple jam jar, air holes pierced in the lid
Laden with clover and blades of green grass
To catch a bumblebee, shear delight for a kid
Observing him carefully through the transparent glass
Like little scientists we named differing species
Terminology I can still recall to this day
What a pleasure it is to remember these
Adventure along the hills was our kind of play
It saddens me today to see young minds so numbed
Lush fields of green devoured and disappeared
To technology, children have now succumbed
Our beautiful world has been commandeered
Whilst walking upon a small meadow of green
I spotted a young boy with a glass jar in his hand
My eyes were aghast at what I’d just seen
It seems there’s still hope upon the land
I watched from afar as he examined his catch closely
Suddenly releasing him and away he did fly
With a loving smile, the boy waved him off joyfully
As I meandered off into the distance, wiping a tear from my eye
It was windy, greenery with some sprinkle of the big bright sun.
You walked past me, smiling brighter than the sun.
Covered in a cladded silky white dress,
You bring the cold breeze.
I stare at your back,
Then to your smile.
Slowly reminiscing,
The past that we shared.
I missed those days,
Days when you and I are having fun.
I would rather experience it once again,
Feel the warmth of your body against mine,
Than the warmth of you blood flowing down.
Sitting this moment under skies of grey
Reading some old poems I once wrote with you,
Contemplating where you are now this day
Sharing words our collaboration knew.
The love we shared on a day once like this
In times so long ago; the spring of youth,
My heart heaved in heavenly days of bliss
Speaking words of unmitigated truth.
Yet you went away far over the sea
Your parents taking you on life’s voyage,
Waving with a kiss as you left the quay
The horizon forever more my bridge.
I was only six and you only nine
Wondering if ever your thoughts as mine.
©Harry J Horsman 2014 ©Mandy M Tams 2014
There’s a certain force of the rain that flows
That brings the scent to the forefront and grows
On concrete the fragrance is a fresh grey
Dull way to bring a stonewash smell to play
It only comes when it first starts to rain
Smell that pleases the senses without pain
Not hot, just a cool rain will bring it up
No scent can compare to this smell close-up
At times it’s pungent, a fresh dirty smell
Lifting the nose beyond where one does dwell
Aroma like floating grainy gruffness
Gnawing the insides bringing a roughness
The fragrance wafts at the start of the rain
Marking the scent of stone with water drain
Russell Sivey
Contest: FRAGRANCE OF RAIN
Sponsor: nette onclaud
11/16/2013
Reminiscing
There are hours when I still long to hold you in my arms.
I feel strong, thinking about what I know of your charms.
Constantly living with these feelings gives one cause for alarm
but as reality would have it, reminiscing can do no harm.
So my dear Xiao Ling, memories of you will continue to ring,
at my memories hoards – door -, your sweet voice doth sing
to the ears of my soul, your spirit, to me, a dance doth bring.
So, if there is nothing else for me ?, knowing you, is a great thing !
B, J. “A ” 2
March 25th 2015
Screened porch,
sweet iced tea,
summer
breeze blowing.
Good times.
Family
laughing
at old jokes
they loved.
The shadows
grew long.
Light faded.
They left,
and oh, how
I miss them.
5/7/2019
Charlieku New Form Poetry Contest
Charles Messina, Sponsor
It's funny the simple pleasures recounted in life
all manner of wonders reminisced I'll miss most..
though list grows shorter with each passing day
thoughts align in proper time as desires sway
storm bent trees, sunsets, a child's laughter,
and chicken salad on toast.
To be true others may find want of finer things.
fancying first class flight or latest in 'lectric cars,
refined tastes in Nanterre brioche or imported caviars
yet never replace good company a heart brings.
As winter closes, and spring finds its way home,
eternally grateful for all new pleasures won
give thanks warm day's return in rising and setting sun
yet alone, to bygone days my thoughts may roam.
Yeah, there'll always be chicken salad and sunsets..
perhaps a slice of keylime pie or two.
When I look back to a wonderful past,
what I'll miss most
is you.
I dreamt of you
Just us two
Praying, fasting, climbing, as
Chambers of my heart stayed aglow -
Soaked in serenity,
Vulnerable, yet I was hoping for the clearing.
I dreamt of you
California's Long Beach once more comes to mind
As pie unsavory, but now I'm awake, like
New York's break of day so holy
Manhattan West Side kept me alive,
All white reigned supremely pure, as
Black of night with dreams galore.
I dreamt of you
Watched, waited, prayed
Eclectic music reminds me of you
Early rising, too
I'd lay me early to rest, while
Faith blossomed like spring flowers.
*