Yesterdays Lost

It seems it was only yesterday

I was just on twenty-three,

Feeling my way in the world out there

‘Til you distracted me,

I looked aside for a moment, saw

That you had been, and gone,

And found I had wasted fifty years

For I couldn’t remember one.

 

That life is merely a shadow now

So why did you have to leave,

I can’t remember just what went wrong

Or what I hoped to achieve,

I thought that time was forever then

And I took my eyes from the clock,

I lived in the land of make-believe

Where the tick had stopped with tock!

 

Your face is lost to my memory

Your words are buried in time,

I only know there was someone there

Who played with my heart and mind,

Our love was lost in a well of tears

That made our pillows rot,

We wasted time on our hopes and fears,

Whether you left, or not.

 

There must be somebody else out there

Who’s stealing another’s time,

Who lives their life in a shadow, when

They could be alive in mine,

I’d like to retrieve those fifty years

And I think that you’ll agree,

They could be happy and carefree years

But they wouldn’t be spent with me!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[David Scott]

You show a bit of self loathing here. We all have looked back and wondered what if we could go back and try again. The wise know that if we went back and we were still who we are, well, then we would waste those days all over again in the same folly. The past is not only a locked door, but a relm that even the dead dare not to tread lest the spirit become a meaningless ghost. It is an empty place where everything matters, but nothing can change.
I enjoyed this poem. It feels so personal from you and I like that you left your template even if just a little bit.

[Marie]

The clock hands turn and ficfy t=years is gone, and we don't even remember. BUt maybe omeone really is stealing the time...

[quinfinn]

i like David's analogy of the past .."an empty place where everything matters but nothing can change" (David Scott) i think this is the first of your writes which speaks of the disillusionment of time spent on love lost...that i have seen. you obviously have some real and tangible experience here. the fact that it has been a source of torment and pain for you over the years is not lost on me...you and i, sir, have that in common. i think that is why this piece resonated with me so distinctly. well written, David!

[cynthiabuhainbaello]

Yes I would agree with the posts below, you seem to have a more personal touch to this one, a diversion from your previous narratives. You aren't getting better, you are getting prefect. I like this as it somehow touches a common cord for us (seniors, hah!) and looking back at the past carries with it the sighs and longings of what-might-have-been. The words are direct, flowing free, smooth and sad, but very true. Amazing precision that you write in a way so exact, like you were reading me like a book. Bravo, David - brilliant work again

[Jack...]

Somewhat sad Sir. The first love inspired poem I have read from you and I enjoyed it.

[keyvan]

perfect.....