A Vestige of My Youth

A Vestige of My Youth

 

 

It was winter

the year my unemployment checks

were running out.

I was barely getting by paying rent

existing on cold pizza and ramen noodles,

with a diamond deck of solitaire

to kill the monotony of time.

 

It was the eighties,

the era of hair metal bands and MTV.

I worked in a record store

when LP’s were just beginning to phase out. 

A place that my friends referred to as

“the dream job.”

 

 I was single then

dating men with the frequency

of Monday night football,

writing free verse crossed legged on a hardwood floor

with a smith corona, a halogen lamp

and Jessie.

 

Fast forward twenty years

and here I am

wishing I could go back

to the rush of those nine to five days,

flipping through numerous categories of LP’s

in chronological  order,

cramming the copious names of artists

and classifications of music

into the cerebral of my brain.

 

A vestige of my youth

so well spent. 

 

Reviews

[Ern M. Yoshimoto]

when you're young even poverty is a lot of fun. i remember being a student living off cold pizzas and cheese toast. i didn't listen to much hair metal, i was part of the indie crowd: skinny leg jeans and ironic t-shirts. and i had a job and because i was twenty-one i could pull of a 12-hour shift no sweat. that energy and vibrance is also for me fast fading. but i do look back and think 'my youth so well spent.' lovely work, full of nostalgia.

[Kelly Scheppers]

Funny, how I still prefer eating cold pizza! Thank you, Ern!

[Fabian G. Franklin]

I love going through the old LPs in the discount bargain basement, just ran across Year of the Cat.

[Kelly Scheppers]

You found a good one, Fabian! That's a classic!

[andrew mitchell]

Great stuff Kelly. You wrote this so well, my sentiments exactly except I was chasing girls back then, it was hard work but owning LP's was great and the music.

[Kelly Scheppers]

Nothing like the album art back then. So glad LP's are coming back. Thanks, Andrew! Good to see you here!

[Samuel Dickens]

I so enjoy this. Life is a journey that is sometimes worrisome or arduous or boring or difficult, so it's a wonderful thing to look back at some of the best parts, even though they might not have seemed all that great at the time. I loved record stores! Not only did I enter to buy the latest Pink Floyd or Led Zepplin, but I'd spend much time looking for that undiscovered gem hiding in the rows. How interesting now that vinyl is coming back.
I think maybe the part that's most important to you is what life choices you made back then and how a zig instead of a zag may have might have born better fruit. Certainly, I think in that way.

[Kelly Scheppers]

Fate certainly intervened, with a little zig and a zag. My store unfortunately closed, and my assistant manager became my sister-in-law, after a hook up from her brother-in-law who just so happened to live in San Diego. And the beat goes on! Lol, so thrilled with this piece. Thanks for the visit, Sam. Your kindness is always welcomed!

[emmajoygreen]

A brilliant near comparison of then and now.. neither a spoiler, neither unused or regretted. Without a touch of arrogance, you are ever the poet-thinker who writes words because you feel them, not for performance purposes. Doubt that in spite the difference of time and activities, you are still the you written about. So, why wish to go back, you are someone who will always carry Self along the 'path'!

[Kelly Scheppers]

You are most kind, Emma. Thank you!

[Dave]

Kelly - how often we reflect on the times of our youth. I was so glad to see that yours' were so, for the most part, so good. When I reflect, I tend to remember only the best times., but then again, don't we all? The bad times seem to be lost to memory. I'll soon be 83 and despite that, I can easily remember my childhood, even some of the bad stuff. Then again, I can't help but t think that youth is wasted on the young.
It was so good to see you - Take care - Dave

[Kelly Scheppers]

I always reflect on this time, since my asst. mgr. then is now my sister-in-law. How funny is that?
We're always reminiscing, keeping the better days close at hand. Thank you, Dave!

[Dave]

You are more than welcome. It's so nice to hear from you. I haven't put anything here for quite a while.Take care Dave.

[Panhead Rod]

Great reflection of the past... When life was actually more simple... Enjoyed this one.

[Kelly Scheppers]

It was indeed more simple. Thank you for your visit, Rod!

[RobM]

Kelly, you use language very well. I'm writing my novel on my cell phone so the mention of the smith-corona made me jealous. Your poem reminded me of San Francisco where I used to live. Many record stores there. Probably even still. Amoeba dominates.
Au revoir!

[Kelly Scheppers]

Thank you most kindly, Rob. I appreciate that!

[carl]

living without does not mean a life without, often the simplicity of our life is a tranquility of mind and soul remembered - I've been on that floor with sketch pad, charcoal, my labrador, and a stack of treasured vinyls for company. Going to college in my 30's on Veterans money - It was a lean time but full of life. well said thanks for the post -carl

[Kelly Scheppers]

Thank you for such a wonderful share, Carl. Much obliged, my friend!

[C. M. Miller]

Emotional inflation never touched this piece of delightful memory. The here and now gently caressing the ripples of time that always remembers.

[Kelly Scheppers]

The sad part about this poem is that record stores have now become extinct. There were two in the mall when I worked at mine, and many more to be found elsewhere. It truly was the best of all places to work. Thanks, Charles. You've made my day!