Sandcastles

 

While sifting through old photographs

Of childhood, black and white,

I came across a scene that stirred

My memory, overnight,

Three children by a sandcastle,

The finest ever made,

My sister, me and Hazel,

Made with bucket, and with spade,

With towers, crenellations

And surrounded by a moat,

The sand was dry, the tide was out

It stood there proud, remote.

 

Though sixty years have passed since then,

That camera shutter's sight

Caught just one random moment in

An afternoon's delight,

It froze that moment of our lives,

That castle on the sand,

And though the tide swept in that day

That castle, still it stands,

While we watched as the sands of time

Wrought havoc in our lives,

The moat we built could not protect

From husbands, or from wives.

 

The tide swept in and filled the moat,

The sides began to melt,

The water undermined the walls

And suddenly, they fell,

The love that we had built them with

Was washed right out to sea,

And left no sign of love behind,

For Hazel, Tess or me,

And then we learned the lesson

That our lives revolved around,

That nothing built will last unless

It's built on solid ground.

 

We spent our lives in dreaming

Building castles in the sand,

Believing that the tide would never turn

To wreck our plans,

We thought love was the answer

'Til discovering, too late,

That love swings on a pendulum,

The other end is hate,

And just as tides flow in and out

And level out the land,

The tides of life wreak havoc with

Our castles in the sand.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[B]

You brought tears to my eyes
I come from a family of three sisters and one brother
We build castles till this day and i am 31

I hope nothing washes away our solid grounds and our castles are not just built in sand

I couldn't ever bear departing from them
I have never loved anyone this much and never will

You are so beautiful with your words
Can't stop crying

[Bewitching Sensations]

really great reminded me of when my kids was little.. really sweet

[Valentine]

Oh wow..you have out done yourself on this one.. I looked at the picture first and thought it might be you..I was correct..this one reminds me so much of my own yesterdays that is brought back to memory by old pictures of my family.It is also true that nothing lasts that is built on drifting sand. I am finding out with my husbands illness that even if it was built on solid ground..Illness and death can still come in and destroy a life and a person..You are so talented..I love this one..God bless Lyn and you..love your friend..Kathie

[quinfinn]

oh, the tide....so graceful, so destructive.....so very very extraordinary....wonderful poem

I loved this one David, so I come by.....
"That castle, still it stands,
While we watched as the sands of time'"
Means so much for me as your memory is so vivid in
The treasures of now days... that is touching.
It is touching me, and time, passes by, but who
Would be happier with rich memories, than you
Instead of those who can't remember....
Loved this, so touching, and to the bone, I got shivers.

Thanks for your outstanding work, sir.

E.L.

[Doreen]

This evoked melancholy feelings of memories past. This reads beautifully, as all your work does. I love how this brings about visions of sandcastles on warm summer afternoons, and also hits home about the realities of life vs. the innocence of childhood and dreams. Very well done, sir. I liked this very much.

Is this your picture, or a random find?

[Mic]

Most sad. Bit of a reality check after the happy expectation the photograph evoked. Is sad love teeters so precariously.

Excellent write, Mr. Paget. Probably my favorite thus far!

[Tate Morgan]

God this is one of the best you ever wrote Dave Ill send this one out.
This paragraph is the best.

We spent our lives in dreaming
Building castles in the sand,
Believing that the tide would never turn
To wreck our plans,
We thought love was the answer
'Til discovering, too late,
That love swings on a pendulum,
The other end is hate,
And just as tides flow in and out
And level out the land,
The tides of life wreak havoc with
Our castles in the sand.

I can't say enough about how much I like this work .It is the second work the other being Well We Might ,that I am actually envious of. The concept the delivery the emotions it stirred all a little bit of the magic performed by the master for our amusement, in the Twilight Zone!

[Enid Blake]

Very poignant. I liked the 'new' length of the stanzas (i'm used to your 8 line ones!)
It felt like a different poem from you, I liked it. Although you still have that touch of the macabre underlying...

[Clayton Bardwell]

I'm still here and still building castles in the sand.

[Marie]

Rather sad...so much of life is like a sand castle, washed out by the tide. We have to watch it crumble. Only black and white photographs are left to prove it was ever there.