we stood alone
that's how hunger works
we craved attention
a little praise
when i think back
we could have banded
we could have been strong
but we didn't
Posted on March 4, 2025
Yesteryear cannot deny
memories soft as lullabies
Dreams and wishes began to fade
as tomorrow overtakes yesterday
Wiser maybe foolish still
stubbornness strengthens will
Love and loss of life's way
haunts the stillness of today
Bitterness of overkill
sweetness of exciting thrills
Words spoken in haste
love lost never replaced
I see your face in places been
idle day dreams of us when
Selfish hateful me you taunt
as I pleaded was you I want
Gone from me you tore away
I knew you would not stay
the days grow short nights long
was loving you so, ever wrong
Found others to replace the need
but I looked in them for you to see
No matter how good they were to me
all my love was to deceive
The snow is falling winds are brisk
I walk alone in winters mist
Cold I feel as cold is my heart
yesteryear of you will not depart.
Thought I perhaps should let all my friends see,
How touched I was on finding this letter to me,
Found by mistake, after so many years,
I collapsed into buckets of tears,
A treasure bequeathed to me, was meant to be.
POST-SCRIPT:
As the writing is faint
in the scan above I have typed it out
for ease of legibility.
Abu Ben Adhem
(poem by Hunt, James Henry Leigh)
(1784-1859)
Has been translated in Greek by
Dimitrios Stais (as per manuscript
in possession of his son Panos Stais)
This small note is sent to
Jennifer Alan Hunt, the great
grand-daughter of Dimitri
Stais.
Of course, poems of many other
authors of this "English Verse"
Oxford Book were translated
in Greek by Dimitris Stais,
but I simply make mention of
the one titled as above because
of the author's name. (HUNT)
May I express the
wish, dearest Jennifer, that
one of the future editions of
Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
comprise some of your cherished
poems.
With lots of love
your gd father
Panos
Athens 19th December 1968
There are some to ignore the past,
As if those roots never fed the vine.
Yet they'll recall a former landscape,
Where harmony existed, everything was just fine.
But this time-traveling effort begs the question,
As to just when we should turn the clock back?
Because no two can agree on a time frame,
So the answer becomes a historical hack.
Now it's been seen where success has occurred,
While traveling backwards with women's rights.
Taking away her given reason to control her body,
I guess it's better if she no longer fights.
This Time-Machine seems to work judicially,
As a time-warp has bent the Supreme Court.
Where twisted logic has decided that a President,
Can rule a kingdom, with no one to report.
So who needs to look towards the future,
When we have a MAGA time machine to dwell on the past.
We might as well stop worrying about tomorrow...
Since yesterday may become our last.
Yesteryear mixed dulcet days with bitterly sour moments.
Zesty and tart as lemons, but tempered with honeyed memories.
This year, I will only journey through sweet orange orchards.
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
On Valentine's Day, February 14
I gifted you a single red rose
That symbolized my single heart
I still remember
Our pleasure and passion
We’ve flown and will fly together
Under similar sun and moon
That red rose cherishes
My true love
Everblooming in my heart
True love should not be refreshed
That's why on this February 14
I don't have a new red rose
Nor a new wedding ring
To grace your finger again
The single rose
The single love
Is for a lifetime!
You've aged well with Conviction
Guarding your yesteryears
of residential Presbyterian Thornton Heath in 58
and Kennards in the town centre
Bygone Croydon days
with Grants and Allders, crown jewels
and Beatles at the festive Fairfield Halls 63
and Young Conservatives 64 in Purley
I've been wanting to call you,
but the rolodex was trashed decades ago,
and the laptops got Alzheimer's.
I need a Bakelite dial phone
one heavy enough
to withstand some heavy breathing.
When the living and the dead communicate
they need the right tools.
Love never dies they say,
yet an I-phone has a microchip
that has everything, but a heart.
Youthful moments, fleeting
young love swoons from the past
yellowed portraits remain
yesterday’s songs linger
yet as life goes, we sail
years mark a fleet of days
yielding to time and age.
A Pleaides Poem
10/5/2022
The simplicity
Unlocked windows... unlocked doors
Kids playing outside
Old school rhythm and blues groove
The community village
Hortense and Gertrude
Priscilla, Imogene
Once-popular names
no more to be seen
Isadore, Cornelius
Cyrus and Mortimer
Back in the day such
names courted her
You never know though
when a name may return
Such as Ambrose, Edsel
Penelope or Fern
“What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.” — Karl Lagerfeld
Wonderful memories of yesteryear,
though long ago, are still so very clear
Trips to the seaside, a visit to the zoo,
hearing the steam train go choo choo
Riding on a donkey on the golden sand,
building sandcastles, they looked so grand
Eating pink candy floss piled up so high,
winning a small prize on the coconut shy
Going on bumper cars and the ghost train,
using my pocket money to ride on them again!
Photographs of the past from when I was a child,
the most vivid of them all, was how my hair was styled!
Memories from old photographs … as a child I had blonde curly hair !
“Y” Contest, New Poems – Poetry Contest - theme of Yesteryear chosen
Sponsored by Constance La France
11/29/21
Looking out today on my locality
so many changes not for the better
everything moves ao fast and loose
all casual as nothing kept by the letter
Dressware like nothing as before
once in the past all dressed class
but now torn jeans is the norm
look in shock you just want to pass
Remember the good times of yesteryear
that generation standards held high
all very smart no matter the event
no respect for all, question why?
As one looks over the mountains
you see clouds hiding the very top
just like today, modern life outlook
one wants to shout, no more, stop!
Standards just don't exist anymore
freedom is the cue that goes overboard
nothing is barred all are let loose
one day pay the price we can't afford
(I live in southwest Scotland, comparing to the times I grew up in the 60/70s and the present situation today.)
There I was in the 1970s
an impressionable sort of guy
then I learned about a lady
who when she sang I did sigh!
One of her albums just shook me
'we're children of coincidence
and Harpo Marx', where did he appear?
her music was filled with confidence
Ar that time of life, I was down
life didn't mean much these days
but Dory Previn was a voice of light
speaking to me what her music says
So many great tracks, I loved so much
'The Comedian', 'Wild Roses and 'I Wake Up Slow'
but 'How I Gonna Keep Myself Together'
inspired me to be able to musically grow
Of course who could forget the final song
the magical ' The Owl And The Pussycat'
sadly Dory passed away in 2012
thankfully her music lives on the fast track
(Dory Previn was my star of yesteryear, (1925-2012)
I just wanted to write about my favourite album. Why it is my favourite album, what a lot of special memories it holds, What feelings within me it still holds.)
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