Memories in Butter Cream Icing

Memories in Butter Cream Icing

 

 

 

i tip my glass to you

65 and still a babe

birthday candles drip all over my poem

 

i am the caricature of the character

you once knew poorly

now baked into an old man

 

accomplishments that would surprise

you at this end of life

if we sat and conversed

we would be strangers

in the day

 

by night, a reckoning of changes

of purpose

of incentive born of surprises

 

oh, you wouldn't know me

today from the yesterday I was

 

blow out the candles

it is just another day of you

without me.

 

 

erin-cilberto

2/6/2021

Reviews

[John the Baptist]

It is odd how time and distance can change us. People about whom we felt passionately forty years ago now draw a blank or a blurred picture. Indeed, they wouldn't know us today from the yesterday we were. In some cases, that's not a bad thing.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

`that is so true...and yet there are those who never aged in our minds...maybe in our hearts as well...
and there would be clarity of what we felt then, and puzzlement as to how that feeling dissipated then.
thank you for your wise words, John,
j.

[Coyote Poetry]

Life changes and we find them again. I understand the poem Jacob. Thank you for sharing the amazing poetry and your thoughts.
Coyote

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your understanding review, Coyote,
j.

[Coyote Poetry]

You are welcome my friend.

[emmajoy]

Looking back can reveal what's been set aside if not forgotten. But few could put it down in the way you have. There might well be an air of acceptance rather than comparison' perhaps.. the song is sung basso profundo, light and fever both denied but hidden, maybe. That said, i can only wonder if there's a wry smile lurking, wondering if, maybe, there are possibilities not yet explored? ' .. by night, a reckoning of changes ~ of purpose ~ of incentive born of surprises..'

[jacob erin-cilberto]

You found me out, em...there is a wry smile as I write these excursions into the past.
Thanks for taking the time to put up with them.
j.

[emmajoy]

We all have past!, sir j. In fact, in the breath of typing my words so far, have added to mine!

[light and ashes]

Cool write, I enjoyed the bit of swagger.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, light...
and at my age, only a very slight bit of swagger.
j.

[light and ashes]

Somehow, I doubt that....lol :) take care

[Samith Pich]

Each section works really well. I knew I was in for a treat when I read:

i tip my glass to you
65 and still a babe
birthday candles drip all over my poem

Nothing in the poem disappointed or felt contrived.

Bravo.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your kind words, Samith,
j.

[Betty Hermelee]

This reminds me of my 40th high school reunion....old "friends" would walk in and honestly I didn't recognize them at all.. they were caricatures of their young personage.... it's amazing how we must look to others in our aging ladder....We are strangers to others, and maybe ourselves too. It's quite a surprising phenomena..
Love it,
Best always, B

[jacob erin-cilberto]

"time it was and what a time it was, a time for innocence, a time for confidences....old friends, sat on the park bench like bookends"---(Paul Simon)
yes, strangers to ourselves as well..

thank you, Betty...
j.

[Betty Hermelee]

Of course..it's really weird to try to catch up to a "stranger"... park bench bookends!

[jen]

I love this.
" am the caricature of the character
you once knew poorly
now baked into an old man"
I like how it expresses that we are versions of ourselves shaped in the minds of others. We still know who we were when we met others in our lives and retrace and reconcile to who we are now. Just turning 60 myself, I get this poem in many ways. Really pinging parts of my brain that I hadn't considered before. Thank you

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your understanding words, jenny,
j.

[roarke]

Perfect.
“Oh, you wouldn’t know me today from the yesterday I was.”
Perfect.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, roarke,
j.

[Laz K.]

I have always found the most sublime beauty in feelings of melancholy. Simple joy or sadness are both one sided, but melancholy sees and encompasses both the reasons for joy and for sadness. To me, that's what this poem speaks of, and does so with the utmost beauty and delicacy.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Laz, yes, I agree...
j.

[Patricia Wedel]

How many Candles in a Lifetime would
shine for years to come... how many songs
need to be crooned... before the New Moon.
Stars are twinkling just for you. tenderly, Pat

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your words, Pat,
j.