Sunday, February 25, 2018

bread and margarine

somewhere in the horizon, the ocean and the sky meet and annihilate each other...


photo by khfalk at pixabay




bread and margarine


outside, the sun is a melting nuclear blast
it hurts the brain just thinking about it
too tired to make a lunch, just paste
two slices of bread with margarine
and call it that, there is zero
i really want to do, except
thinking of all the regrets
all filling up in a glass jar
so that one day i can toss
it all out and release them
back to the alleys and bell bottoms
and torn jeans where they came from

and

when you are old
looking through
the dusty stuff
in the shelves
thinking of all
the loves that were

and are

one can never stop
clutching at the
clinging nostalgia
like cold cobwebs
pulling at your face.


20/02/2018
**********






"you watch weeds grow and wonder who or which is more unwanted."

-- dsnake1, a point in your life




and a song to tide us over : Traffic - Love





© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2018

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24 Comments:

Blogger Mary said...

If only we could put all of our regrets in a glass jar and eventually throw them out and forget about them. I loved the mention of 'bell bottoms' and find myself wondering when this fashion will return again. Smiles. And oh - the nostalgia you mentioned. Sometimes we clutch it to us as if it is all we have, and sometimes indeed it really is. This really is a good poem!

25 February, 2018 21:59  
Blogger dsnake1 said...

ah, bell bottoms, this is one fad that hasn't returned yet. :)
this is one of my very recent 'mood' poems, i was feeling like, what's wrong with this world, what's wrong with me, and was rummaging through my bookshelves when i wrote this at one go, with no editing.

i was hoping to write more like this but it wasn't happening anymore. :D

25 February, 2018 22:20  
Blogger Cressida de Nova said...

Your personal poetry is very enjoyable. Write more of those mood poems without editing..One has to face a few realities after a certain age. You are not alone in facing them. Please do not wish those bell bottom pants on us again. They were hideous:)

25 February, 2018 22:26  
Blogger dsnake1 said...

Cressida,

thanks for visiting.
yes, one has to face realities at certain times of their lives. certain milestones, so to say. now i am facing unemployment, but it is also good that i needed the rest.
those bell bottom pants, i do have a lot of fun when i was wearing them then. a lot of 60's, 70's fashion fads have made a comeback, but not the bells. :)

25 February, 2018 23:05  
Blogger Sherry Blue Sky said...

So powerful, nostalgia, "like cold cobwebs pulling at your face."

25 February, 2018 23:18  
Blogger annell4 said...

I think I would like to throw those old regrets into the ocean, and keep the glass jar for jam. I loved it.

25 February, 2018 23:24  
Anonymous Neeraj Khanka said...

"one can never stop
clutching at the
clinging nostalgia"

And we keep holding on to them - may be we don't want to let it go...may be that is all we are left with now.

26 February, 2018 00:01  
Blogger Gillena Cox said...

Luv your resonating nostalgia and thoroughly enjoyed the shift in these 2 lines
"back to the alleys and bell bottoms
and torn jeans where they came from"

Happy Sunday Cheong san

Much💖love

26 February, 2018 01:36  
Blogger brudberg said...

There is such a sense of past in this... I never had so much real bell bottoms, but it actually made a comeback in the late 90s here... then I had them.

So many things we wanted to do back then... and so many other things that got in the way.

26 February, 2018 01:38  
Anonymous Donna@LivingFromHappiness said...

I do like the idea of putting our regrets in a jar....we just have to remember to let them go...holding on to that jar will be a burden into that old age.

26 February, 2018 02:32  
Blogger indybev said...


Speaking from advanced years, I find nostalgia can also be a warm cloak in which one can wrap oneself, lost in pleasant memories! Your poem is, however, quite eloquent.

26 February, 2018 04:15  
Blogger Sanaa Rizvi said...

Such powerful and cutting edge imagery in this one especially; "the sun is a melting nuclear blast"... whoa!

26 February, 2018 04:20  
Blogger ZQ said...

That was awesome... BUT, get out of there : )

"you watch weeds grow and wonder who or which is more unwanted."
ZQ

26 February, 2018 05:40  
Blogger Wendy Bourke said...

This is brilliant - I really 'get' this mood ... and a mood is not an easy thing to share with someone ... more's the pity. Awesome writing!

26 February, 2018 06:53  
Anonymous dsnake1 said...

Sherry,

thank you! :)


annell,

:)
now, that's an idea worth considering.


Neeraj,

thanks for visiting! :)
we keep holding onto nostalgia because they are well, part of our lives. and yes, maybe that is all we are left with now.

26 February, 2018 08:47  
Blogger Old Egg said...

Nostalgia is our humanity. Look at people who don't care about the past or even the little things that made them who they are and you find they have less feeling and concern for others only themelves. What a great poem to remind us to look at ourselves now and then.

26 February, 2018 17:58  
Anonymous dsnake1 said...

gillena,

thank you, so glad you enjoyed the poem. :)


Bjorn,

yes, so many things we wanted to do back then, so many obstacles in the way.
no, bell bottoms didn't make a comeback here, maybe for the better. :)


Donna,

i am now into that old age, so yeah, regrets, which are many, are still my own doing and choice. it is perhaps a good idea to let them all go. :)


Beverly,

yes, loved your analogy that nostalgia is also a warm cloak in which one can wrap oneself, lost in pleasant memories."
thank you! :)

26 February, 2018 21:35  
Anonymous dsnake1 said...

Sanaa,

thank you for your kind words. :)


ZQ,

..but at one time it was more or less like that... :(


Wendy,

Thanks!
i write my better poems when i am moody, hungry, frustrated, sad, seldom when complacent, happy or contented. :)

26 February, 2018 22:07  
Blogger dsnake1 said...

thank you, Robin.
It is comments like this that make my day. there are so many debates about nostalgia, whether it is good or bad, or even dangerous. it is bad, it is argued, because it is not real, the memory gets a little distorted every time an experience is recalled, it distorts history, it prevents learning from mistakes. but i tend to lean on the side that it is good, because, yes, it is a thing of humanity, that these memories are my life's choices, for better or for worse.
and it can make me feel more socially connected to others. you liked Pink Floyd's music? me too! :)

26 February, 2018 22:38  
Blogger Thotpurge said...

regrets in a glass jar.. fabulous!

26 February, 2018 23:30  
Blogger Myrna R. said...

I think art needs to not only be beautiful but honest. Your poem is an example of this. I like its raw honesty about how you feel and face your regrets without sugar coating. And I like how you wove words that express your feelings so beautifully.

27 February, 2018 00:02  
Blogger totomai said...

Sometimes, I find comfort from the past especially when I am alone. That glass jar can be kept - take a peep of what’s in there from time to time.Could brighten up your day, if not, try brighten your day in the end

27 February, 2018 01:18  
Blogger Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

Eloquent imagery and powerful emotion. Loved it!

27 February, 2018 07:59  
Anonymous dsnake1 said...

Thotpurge,

Thank you! :)


Myrna,

thank you for your encouraging words. :)


totomai,

thank you for the insights. sometimes i do find comfort from the past. it can give me strength, it tells me how fortunate i may have been. :)


Rosemary,

thank you! :)

27 February, 2018 20:56  

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