Heart Darts

(for Nicky, Sue and Jen dear friends, early departed)

where once we took tea

in a leafy green hall

airy bright cheerful 

with ceilings of glass

surrounded by buildings

of floral displays, teapots

and china presented

with class

rosemary, basil with ivy

a trailing, assorted clay pots

on floors with no doors

why am i weeping for all

that is gone

for ruins now bleeding

in silence i pause

trees have now seeded

a forest grows tall

conservatories battered

no people at all

while only the spirits 

have joined me today

to remind me a time clock

is ticking away

Reviews

[Re-Pete]

this is so beautifully said. a touching tribute, hitting it's target, directly on the mark. you brought a tear to my eye. bullseye ... :)

[Chris Shaw]

What a heartfelt review Pete. Many thank yous for your visit. Here take a hanky.

Chris

[Lydia Shutter]

Friends and family with whom we used to spend joyous times. They left us with memories. Sometimes walking past or going into places they spent time with us, well, it is a bit too emotional. What a beautiful tribute to your friends. Drink a cup of tea for them, Chris....they are watching. Lydi**

[Chris Shaw]

What a lovely idea Lydi**. Yes I will sit in my garden when the sun shines next and have a cup of tea for them. Missed so much. You take care.

Chris

[Lydia Shutter]

We are at that age, Chris. So many of my friends have passed. I remember them fondly.

[Chris Shaw]

When we are young, we are sheltered, when we age we learn to grieve. Thanks Lydi**

[Lydia Shutter]

Too true, Chris!

[Lorry]

Where the clock used to tick down time until the next adventure, uncertain days make the sound all the hollower for those that are gone.
Add to that the uncertainty of todays and what once pleasantly kept us company in the wee hours, sounds more and more like a countdown all of our own.
Yet those same memories that bring tears are a memorial to the joy knowing their presence brought us and can so readily bring smiles of the fondest and most unforgettable of memories.
Picturing that group of classy lassies bringing the tone down of such fine establishments with their giggles of hilarity.
'twas the bestof times,' twas the worst of times feels so apt.

[Chris Shaw]

Oh yes Lorry, the lasses laughing and bringing the tone down a peg or two, that was us buttoned up, and all in beautiful surroundings. Miss them all, but what memories eh? Thank you for checking this one out.

Chris

[Lorry]

You're welcome. Funny how our mind changes with the times. For a second I wondered howyou eat cream teas with a mask on.
Innocence gone, eh?

[Chris Shaw]

I can:t even eat a bloody cream tea now since my dairy intolerance put paid to that. Was a real cream tea person to, especialky in Devon and Cornwall. Oh yes, the dreaded masks.

[Lorry]

Ah, the best clotted cream, as well as ice cream. You know it'll be good when they tell you the diet version is to eff off 😀

[Chris Shaw]

Ha! The good news is have lost 12 pounds in weight. I have to keep focusing on the pluses. Me sweet tooth has gone foreva.

[Lorry]

Ach, ye'll be floatin' away before long. Best keep lots of loose change in your bag to keep you grounded.

[Fran Marie]

I feel this poem
as I have lost
many dear friends
not all to disease
some were accidents
via car crashes

still pain of losing
them early on
remains..this
write brings those
memories to
the fore

nice w ork

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Fran Marie. Sorry for your losses. Losing friends is painful, regardless of when or how it happens. Appreciate your visit.

Chris

[Fran Marie]

so true..Chris
you're welcome

[jacob erin-cilberto]

we are all on that time clock...and I felt this poem, Chris.
For those friends I have lost...I wonder why several of them had to part so young...
we were all suppose to grow old together.
lovely tribute...i am sure they would come for tea if they could.
j.

[Chris Shaw]

Cancer took them Jacob. I survived they didn't. I sometimes think why them and not me. Many thank yous. Hard losing friends.

Chris

[Weeping willow]

Very beautiful write as I felt so many things. Such memories cling to me as I read your words ;-] Lovely

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Weeping willow. Your visits always cherished.

Chris

[John the Baptist]

As we get older, many of us experience moments like that described in this offering. The speaker has returned after a long time to a place of youthful memories. I don't know if it is a school, a place of employment or whatever, but now it appears to have been abandoned. Nothing but empty ruins remain, and the speaker recalls the happy memories associated with this place. There is also a deep feeling of sadness for departed ones associated with those memories, and the speaker's own awareness of mortality is aroused. So is it for all of us: "Do not ask for whom the bell tolls/ It tolls for thee."

[Chris Shaw]

About ten years have passed. All close friends who died from cancer. I survived it. Sometimes I wonder why me. Thank you John.

Chris

[Papaya]

This is just beautiful Chris

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Ana. Good to have you visit.

Chris