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

[Jane Winters Rogers]

So beautiful...you have captured those moments once again and seen them from a different perspective, deep emotion written as only you can...

[Indestructible Books]

I've had thoughts about this walking around the streets of my hometown. Unfortunately a lot of them now aren't the same as they have been repaved. Great read, David!

- Skye