it was utopia

looking back to my childhood.....nostalgic today

it was utopia
freshly baked dutch butter cookies
temptingly sat on the sill
cooling off
in the patient winds of our childhood
we played monopoly
till the paper money had curled edges
and the pips on the dice had faded
the daytime sunlit atmosphere
was plump with familial love
bedtime was always too early
but hugs were plentiful and unrelenting
and if we sat on that window bench
right next to oma’s rocker
we could touch the stars in the sky
couldn’t we?
sure we all rewrite history to a certain extent
and the years have taken their toll
but through the foggy lens of memory
it still seems to me
it was utopia

Reviews

[Patricia Wedel]

dear Lydi... childhood is a breath of fresh air... running through fields... Grandma milking the cow and making butter. Keeping warm by a wood stove. Nostalgic lines in verse that live on in memory. Discovering a poem tucked in archives of your heart. truly, Pat

[Lydia Shutter]

How sweet you went back to five years ago for this one, Pat. Thank you so very much. Lydi**

[Patricia Wedel]

My Irish grandmother made homemade jams and as children we ran through the cornfields... with laughter and played games in the parlor. truly, Pat

[Neville]

For what it is worth, I only ever started to write because I wanted to capture moments such as those you have so deliciously crafted here. Words that tease each of the senses and force subjective recollections from the recesses of my own mind and enable me to savour over and over those same moments that I might once have taken for granted but that mean so much to me now, Thank you Lydi**.....Neville

[Lydia Shutter]

Neville, I was truly one lucky girl to have parents, an aunt and uncle, grandparents, and one cousin who were such a close knit family. Sadly, I am the last one standing. They taught me so much and I stand today on the foundation they built. Yes, they are precious moments...and in hindsight they are still more precious. Thank you once again. Lydi**

[Aethereal]

This poem is so descriptive that I felt that I was experiencing this utopia myself. You take the reader back in time, your time. The games, sunlight, stars, the bed time hugs all manage to get through the fog of a distant memory each a pleasant haunting ghost from the past. Images appear to me from my past too, such as those milk glasses and bowls painted with little red Dutch windmills that I was served breakfast in as a child before leaving for elementary school on cold Winter mornings, or all those paintings of sailing ships , fruit, and flowers on the kitchen walls.

[Lydia Shutter]

Really? Little red windmills? That touches me since my entire family is from Holland! Thank you very much for the detailed review. Have a great day. Lydi**

[Aethereal]

My ancestors sailed from Holland to settle here as farmers ages ago. I’m Dutch too. You look Dutch.

[Lydia Shutter]

WOW! That's really something. I am first generation American.

[The Mutterer]

I like this :) I think monopoly is a key to childhood - that or hungry hippos. I like the way it reflects the care-free nature of youth and how that is, as you put it, utopia

[Lydia Shutter]

I think the era of the board game has long since passed, but I remember it fondly. Thank you for your comments. Lydi**

[The Mutterer]

I enjoyed monopoly a lot when I was a kid, still do in fact

[Deidre]

I loved how vivid and precise your description was, especially the monopoly part. It definitely reminded me of my childhood! Cheers.

[Lydia Shutter]

Thank you very much, Deidre. Lydi*

[K. Louis]

This was a beautiful reminiscent piece. I thoroughly enjoyed it...and my favorite part was..

"bedtime was always too early
but hugs were plentiful and unrelenting
and if we sat on that window bench
right next to oma's rocker
we could touch the stars in the sky
couldn't we?"

I loved how these lines were so effortlessly blissful...i'm enjoying your work!

[Lydia Shutter]

Thank you, sir.....I am enjoying your comments! :) Lydi**

[K. Louis]

Do I read as a sir? lol...or is it the name?
anyway, you're welcome...and i'm enjoying your poetry! :)

[Lydia Shutter]

Oh my, if you are a woman, I apologize....I assumed, wrongly apparently, you were male because of the name Louis!

[K. Louis]

haha...no problem...easy enough mistake! :)

[Karen]

In one of our past journals, I was reflecting on my childhood, something I'd always associated with painful and sad. But the more I thought about it, the more strips of memory surfaced as a reminder that though it was a painful and sad childhood, there were certainly moments of enjoyment, moments (as you put it) of utopia. I'd like to "rewrite history to an extent," but I wouldn't rewrite those wonderful moments. Thank you for writing this!

[Lydia Shutter]

Karen, your comments are so warm and thoughtful. Thank you for sharing your feelings. I am happy my words could evoke memories for you. Lydi**

[Trace]

This is so powerful in the imagery it invokes. This could be a beautiful short story if expounded upon.
Love this. Trace

[Lydia Shutter]

I am not into writing short stories really, but I know there would be many more things I could say about my childhood. I was so fortunate to have the love in my life that I did. Thank you for your comments, Trace. Lydi**

[jacob erin-cilberto]

my utopia as a child was my summers in vermont...the days went by slowly...we filled them with the crazy pleasures of running through pastures, milking cows...staying up to wait for the fathers, uncles and grandfathers to come home from fishing..and sneaking downstairs to see what they caught...

nostalgiac piece that brought me back to my childhood...thanks for the memories.

[Lydia Shutter]

And thank you for sharing your nostalgia with me. So pleased you liked my words. Thank you. Lydi**

[Clockwork]

You had me at the dutch butter cookies in the first stanza, and you kept me hooked with all of those other memories. These are my favorite lines though: "in the patient winds of our childhood/we played monopoly/till the paper money had curled edges." I have many similar memories of doing the same thing during the summer, especially in houses near the beach. Several times during this piece I found myself nodding, yes, that is how childhood was. Even if there wasn't always a lot, it was Utopia. Thank you for sharing this one Lydia.

[Lydia Shutter]

I am so happy you were able to share these memories with me. We were fortunate to have such childhoods! Thank you for your warm and wonderful comments. Lydi*