Memento

in #poetry7 years ago (edited)



lthsph2.jpg



I walk backwards


In my thoughts

Each time

I think about

What I’ve lost—

Friends I knew

Who went away

And where we went

On certain days…


It’s futile

Conjuring scenes

Time travelling

In my head

Scrying

Images

Beneath

The pentimento

Of dried up

Remembrances


Brush strokes

Of regret—

Pathetic

Attempts

At revising

Or erasing

All for the sake

Or revisiting

A windy day

In March

When your red mittens

Were blown

Into the lake

And precious memories

With them.



© 2017, John J Geddes. All rights reserved



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A giant eraser doesn't work. Your life is your painting with all the beauty and unfinished parts. The good thing about life or paintings is that you can brush over your mistakes with another color.

Ah, that is the essence of what I was implying with the word, pentimento. Very perceptive :)

I've not heard that word before....just looked it up so now I know.

well, you learned another word tonight - invulnerable - but I prefer being vulnerable :)

I know about being vulnerable - maybe I'll post about it.

At first glance I see "The pentimento Of dried up Remembrances" as layers of extinct memories once held precious but have gathered thick dust over time. At second glance the pentimento is a minute glimpse into the world that was; a constant stacking of bravado and pretentious hiding hoping the world will never discover the real you. At third glance the remembrances have dried in stark contrast to the memories drowning with the mittens.

Three layers of analysis and heartfelt appreciation for another poem by @johnjgeddes as smooth as the long walkway to the lighthouse.

Well, you certainly are adept at explicating a poem's meaning by analyzing the subtext. All of these interpretations have validity - my intention is but another possible meaning. I will say this, as I said in A Familiar Rain, we often overwrite our memories. If you look closely at the bridge which is the actual location of the poem, the painting is a work in progress with the left side sketched out but unfinished. Curiously, no one noticed or commented on that. "We strive to connect with the past only to discover that Heraclitus was right--you can't step into the same river twice." Good work!

Brilliant @johnjgeddes, simply brilliant. I always say we're either telling memories, making memories or we're just not living. Memories have always fascinated me...without our memories - who are we?

so true...thanks, @doghaus

Stunning - I think the older we get the more we tend to do this

thanks, @anneke

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You are my favorite steemit writer. You're works always touch me.

thank you, @strongnbold

The total explication by @johnjgeddes and @doghaus makes the poem penetrating. A good couching of a poem with the subsequent analysis that sharpens constructive thinking.