That Was Then...

I walked along a cobbled street

That echoed, clattered, at my feet

And thought of many feet before

Who’d walked this way, but nevermore.

 

Those cobbles always seemed like home

Had been there since the days of Rome,

My father led me first that way

And his as well, before my day.

 

Then back, as far as we can see

Those cobbles lay through history,

Though worn and scuffed to mark their age

As walkers shuffled off each page.

 

Each came, eyes bright, a will to win

A glow without, a fire within,

Determined each to make their mark,

Their headstones now loom in some park.

 

Their needs and deeds, it must be said

Are soon forgotten, now they’re dead,

Though once it seemed their world was won

It shone and shimmered, then was gone.

 

And love loomed large in every tale

That walked those cobbles, made men pale

And listless, for the love they lost,

While candles lit each Pentecost.

 

And I think of those years gone by

That wrought from me a whispered sigh

Of love, I thought, that was well spent,

Was there at Christmas, gone at Lent.

 

And so I walk these cobblestones

That trip my years, and make old bones,

I turned, and lost that dream somehow,

For that was then, and this is now…

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Valentine]

This hits home with me since I have moved back to northern Michigan on the land my family homesteaded before Michigan was a state. You brought back to mind walking the streets of the still small village on Homecoming Day. Not much has changed since way back then, except mom and dad are in the small cemetery outside of the village. Thanks for bringing back these thoughts. Kathie

[Barbz]

Memories...it fills me. With them.....

[Trace]

BRAVA. ....
Excellent poetry.

I truly loved this piece.

Trace

[TPK Stories]

Memories of then and now...hoping we live to do the best we can...great story telling as always.

[roarke]

stone paths, stone stairs, the cobbles of man across time. I've been thinking lately about the "turning of corners" with in "life's passages"..... this piece seems to speak to me in that direction. "For that was then, and this is now..." and the nagging question eternally churning in my limited cranium... and then what?

[Avinash]

Reminiscence of days gone by. Very rarely you write in such way. But I guess it is to mark a special day in your life. You look back at times and how things changed in front of your eyes. Hope you are enjoying your birthday very well !

[Marie]

THis is somehow sad. It makes me think of my own church that was started so long ago under atree, and is now decaying. But the decay is within, not the cobblestones...

[Tate Morgan]

This must be poem 997 way to go Dave . Only 3 more to your lifetime best of 1000. Happy Birthday Dave from all of us at the Cafe and especially from me. I have learned much from you over the years and treasure the thoughts shared
Your Friend
Tate

[MomzillaNC]

This is a very melancholy rumination upon shared tradition. I find comfort in many of those shared traditions.

[R Smith]

indeed David that was then and sadly this is now, at least so i see it, a reminder of our past that carries such melancholy in your verses, so well written and stylish in delivery, altogether a remarkable poem, thank you :)