Best Poems Written by Mia Paltridge

Suitcase of Yesterdays

My suitcase drags behind me, 
a trail of yesterdays I cannot leave,
As I walk through my family home -
the echo of clinking glass, the faint fizz of bubbly champagne -
Each sparkling laugh is a memory I gently grieve.

The pop of champagne would trigger the ending of another week,
The liquid leaping, racing, climbing, vanishing before they touched the round rim,
Of our grandads old champagne flutes.

Sometimes it wouldn’t stop at the rim, though, 
And on these nights where the bubbles boiled over the edge of the bottle,
The drink dancing wild and fierce, like our tempers,
Our voices are sharp, but alive.

But all things which fizz, fall flat.
As we grow old, the cheap champagne turns too extravagant to pour,
The friends, our sparkling memories, become fewer,
The bubbles, once filled with energy, become tamed by time.

Once in a while though, we’ll pour our champagne again, 
And although it may need a shake to keep the fizz alive, those bubbles will catch the light as it shines through my mother’s wooden windows.

I tug my suitcase past shadows clinging to the walls,
Feeling the quiet sparkle of memories rise one last time - then fall.

I turn my back.
And I gently close the door. 

Copyright © Mia Paltridge | Year Posted 2025