monotonous months of monochrome light
drear and cold as the fifties withdrew
when the sky suddenly turned a miraculous blue
riding cloud nine on that very first flight
where fairy pink shells were scattered in sand
and hoof prints of sea horse went cantering round
a rubber duck ring buoyed a salt water sprite
there were buttery crab petit déjeuners
a locket and laughter for an age six birthday
it was all seaside love from the very first sight
and Dad in his shorts and holiday frame
– what a change.
© Laura Granby 2015
A simple poem to suit the age as I join other versifiers for Sunday’s Poetry Pantry . And the Midweek Motif is SILENCE.
the overbearing sense of nostalgia is …. beautiful
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glad that came through!
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There is a feeling of warmth & nostalgia in this poem 🙂
Excellent write 😀
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thank you Sanaa – was my first really happy memory
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Aaah! I was there too 🙂
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aah! “That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.”
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Absolutely, Laura.
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hoof prints of sea horse!! lovely!
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oh to have the child’s imagination again – thank you!
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How this beautiful poem so beautifully expressed brings back log gone childhood days.
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many of the days were not as sunny as this holiday break though!
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love those images..
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❤
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What wonderful memories shared. Six is such a delightful age…my granddaughter just passed through it. Enjoyed ‘a locket and laughter.’
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Mary – I think that touch of alliteration slotted together well having tried several other combos
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How wonderful those days at the beach could be at the age of six. I love the lighhearted rhythm here.. Just like a child skipping along,
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the poem got lighter hearted as it formed – recalling what it felt like to be excited
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delightful memories…”hoof prints of sea horse”…love the child’s perspective….
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thank you – had to hold hard on to that perspective as the adult kept getting in the way Sumana
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the sky is beautiful – loved the contrast against the golden sand.
the poem is a fantasy – the imagination is coming fo life. as long as we can remember the time we spark our imaginations – it will be never ending.
thanks for sharing this
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the spark of imagination needs a lot of blowing on sometimes!!
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I love the call and response sort of structure. Very well done.
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thank you and am glad you mentioned that – the structure fell into place towards the end and I felt gave it the echo of memory
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I love how deceptively simple this is, but when you really look harder you see how you’ve pieced it all together. I especially love how the lines in italics rhyme. Nice craftsmanship here!
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wondered if I had over-simplified so reassuring comment thank you
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This is so very magical…the sea horse cantering and the salt water sprite….ooh, this whole thing is so, so decadent with images of childhood fantasies. Love it 🙂
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thank you & I think there is a poem in your words – “decadent with images of childhood fantasies” ❤
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This brought back early memories for me–the beach and tidepooling–really a wonderful write!
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ahh yes Audrey & thank you – tidepooling and seeing what treasures the sea had left to find- often something squelchy 😮
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Simply lovely Lolly
Have a good Sunday
Much love…
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❤
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Those years from 5-7…oh the magical memories at the beach…I was laughing when I read ‘a rubber duck ring buoyed a salt water sprite’….I know that sprite. Laura you have such a way of weaving these memories with fabulous words chosen perfectly to make these images of memories we all want to relive.
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I loved my rubber duck ring Donna – it was seriously sensational with a green mallard head – but the sprite never really learnt to swim! thank you for you a very nice comment
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For a short time we lived on the shoreline. You brought back a ton of memories,
Elizabeth
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what a great place to grow up Elizabeth 😎
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Beautiful memories of an age six birthday girl. Lovely.
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thank you Sherry blue sky!! a while after I took the picture it conjured this nostalgic poem ❗ the perspective of the family in the landscape made for distant memories…
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Children do have s different way of looking at the world.
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indeed and we poets must try to recall it!
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A very nice “trip” into memory lane via your heart and art.
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thank you – I like your phrasing
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