Nostalgia

They say beware nostalgia,
But when times are grey and cold,
What keeps a shadow entertained
Whilst they day by day grow old
Than the myriad of memories
Of times long lost and gone,
And of broken dreams and heartaches
From which no shadow could move on.
They say beware nostalgia,
But as sure as day and night,
The past has made us who we are
With ev'ry wrong and right,
And has ever been a haven
For the sombre and alone,
For not one could face the future
Unseen, unheard, unknown.

-EDP

Reviews

[DaRkLyDreAmiNg]

"........For not one could face the future
Unseen, unheard, unknown."

Lol, two little lines sum up everything for me ;)

If more of your poetry is in sonnet form, I don't see why a publisher won't take the risk. From what I read, it's a lost art. No one writes like this anymore. Today's poetry tries too hard to smart and intelligent with unnecessary words. A lot of it has no message, it's just words on a piece of paper.

Good Luck.

[emipoemi]

.....I'm crying right now!! OMG! Not all of my poetry is in sonnet form, but is all has some form or other, because I've been saying the same thing about modern poetry for years and exactly! it's pretty much just a smattering of words that are full of sound and fury, signifying nothing! Thank you so much for reading! Glad you enjoyed it!

[emipoemi]

.....fyi, there's not one publisher yet who would accept me because of reasons (which tend to gravitate towards the fact that I'm a formalist).

[DaRkLyDreAmiNg]

That's weird, I fail to see why they used the word formalist. Your stuff varies. Not every single one is in 14 or 16 lines. A formalist would have written them that way.

Lol, now I am going to get lost in nostalgia. Maybe one day I'll meet my future!

[emipoemi]

lol....

They don't explicitly say that it's because I'm a formalist. I just deduce that by their rejections, which say "it's not for us" and they accept Free Verse mumbo jumbo that literally is subpar compared to what real poets are writing.

[Emma]

I couldn't agree more, what is the point in halve the things we do if not to look back in pride or in fondness, all bonds made and all time invested is something precious to be remembered. The first 4 lines really resonated with me, before it went into the more upbeat and refreshing view of nostalgia, which I did enjoy, but I'm afraid the negative image formed at the start still stuck with me of my Gran sitting and retelling and reliving the same stories again and again, which although it seems tragic it brings her such joy and the joy is what you spoke of here and what I will try to remember.

[emipoemi]

Can't say I understand where you're getting the "upbeat" quality to this poem. It's all pretty solemn to relative degrees, but I didn't write "Sad Writes Strongest" for nothing. This is a prime example of that in effect. Thank you so much for reading and commenting. So glad you enjoyed it.

[Emma]

Maybe upbeat is the wrong word I meant more the positive aspects of nostalgia, i.e. seeing it as a haven and how it forms our identity. You're very welcome for the review xx

[Anise]

I thought this was brilliant. So much truth.
Our past carves our future, experience (success/failure) breeds good judgement
Very cool.

[emipoemi]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.

[Anise]

You are welcome! :)

[H L Rose]

I like the use of “shadow” in both places in the poem. It makes me think of people as shadows of past experiences.

There’s a kind of peace that comes from nostalgia for me even if it also brings negative things. I like how this poem addresses the positive’s in nostalgia despite the negatives.

I really like how it ends,

“For not one could face the future
Unseen, unheard, unknown.”

These lines kind of make you think and I find them compelling.

Enjoyed reading!

[emipoemi]

Glad you did! This was written in response to a friend's poem, and it turned out to be a companion piece to my "The Hardest Thing of All" (which was written first). Thanks for reading!

[H L Rose]

“Unseen, unheard, unknown” made me think of that poem. Still working on a review of it, but I enjoyed it!

[Julie McCarthy (juliesp..]

I wish I wrote like you I haven’t studied English after high school or poetry courses
My poetry is as lame as thinking of printing it all off and deleting off here as I’m surrounded by such beautiful stuff on here eg yours etc etc

[emipoemi]

One thing no poet should do is cut themself short. Never! You are as good as you believe you are....you only need to feel it more, and trust that the .

[emipoemi]

poem is beside you :)

[Julie McCarthy (juliespenhere)]

Ok thanks some are good

[emipoemi]

That's the spirit!

[Julie McCarthy (juliesp..]

I love this
I love your style

[emipoemi]

Glad you do! Thanks for reading!

[C. Lee Battaglia]

And has ever been a haven
For the (sombre) {somber?} and alone.
For not one could face the future
Unseen, unheard, unknown.

It was such a heartfelt read and I really enjoyed it! You're writing is incredible and I just wanted to say that if you have a dream in it, the go for it because you already are a great writer/author! It's up to you to see where it takes you!
Keep up the incredible poetry!

Your friend,

C. Lee Battaglia

[emipoemi]

Thank you C! Indeed, I've been trying for 10 long years to get my stuff out there, but despite my large following there's not one publisher yet that would accept me. Believe me....a lot of my poetry is about waiting in the shadows.

(and "sombre" is how we Canadians spell it, so technically speaking it is correct).