old graffiti
This is from my 2009 NaPoWriMo archives.
When I was younger, I used to write down my thoughts on paper with a pencil, in bound journals and ring notebooks. Most were just rants and doggerel. Much was thrown away. Maybe I shouldn't have. There were some decent and very good poetry (i think), like those in the period just after my military service, that were lost when I moved from place to place. My heart still aches when I think about it. :(
photo by dsnake1
old graffiti
it was just
rows of
faded pencil marks
on a yellowed page
scratched in a naive hand
brash but unsure
small steps
like a baby's
searching
for words
for that
great poem
even the strokes
were angry
the mood
probably too
but the elusive
creatures,the words
stayed hidden
buried
and that was why
that poem
never met
the light
of day
09/04/2009
**********
“Sometimes things become possible if we want them bad enough.”
― T.S. Eliot
Shared on Poetry Pantry #314 at Poets United.
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2016
When I was younger, I used to write down my thoughts on paper with a pencil, in bound journals and ring notebooks. Most were just rants and doggerel. Much was thrown away. Maybe I shouldn't have. There were some decent and very good poetry (i think), like those in the period just after my military service, that were lost when I moved from place to place. My heart still aches when I think about it. :(
old graffiti
it was just
rows of
faded pencil marks
on a yellowed page
scratched in a naive hand
brash but unsure
small steps
like a baby's
searching
for words
for that
great poem
even the strokes
were angry
the mood
probably too
but the elusive
creatures,the words
stayed hidden
buried
and that was why
that poem
never met
the light
of day
09/04/2009
**********
“Sometimes things become possible if we want them bad enough.”
― T.S. Eliot
Shared on Poetry Pantry #314 at Poets United.
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2016
posted by dsnake1 at 8:28 PM
16 Comments:
Hiya, You and the great man are both right!! I enjoyed this and could relate to it and its context so easily,of course... Greetings to you on this sunny Sunday.. Wit Best Wishes Scott
It is hard to think of our work being lost. We don't realize it's value when we are young. But your poems now are finding life and voice, and that is a good thing.
But now it has - most wonderfully - i can relate to the feeling of loss - throwing away old journals seems like cleansing at times and yet it is one thing we can't get back in its original form..maybe that is sometimes good..others it leaves a gap - and yet perhaps those first steps are still in the words we write now and will write tomorrow
searching for words for that great poem. How often does this happen? loads.
sad to think that poem never met the light of day. such a shame to loose your work, these poems we write are journals of our thoughts
such a shame to loose your work, these poems are journals of our thoughts. I enjoyed reading this piece.
Better late than never. And some say what lasts is the most important. Reading this, I thought of the baby learning to walk--how without that fumbling, the graceful dancing and running might not have been.
Oh yes, sometimes those words stay hidden. There is nothing one can do to get them to appear.
"...the elusive / creatures,the words" they truly are! how unfortunate that they never saw the day light! they could take rebirth you know & surely dazzle but they are like Life itself sigh...
It is still worth keeping those that are left to see how your mind has worked since then to convey your thoughts poetically. Wish I had a few of my old writing.
So very true, especially when looking back at our more sensitive and perhaps angst ridden selves (personal commentary lol). At least you had the foresight to write your ideas down in youth, even they are lost at least they once were. I could never find the patience to do that when I was younger and kept all mine locked in my head for far to long.
This is oh so tender and endearing.. our scribbles from childhood are perhaps the most precious :D Beautifully penned.
Lots of love,
Sanaa
Scott,
thank you!
compared to the great man, i am so insignificant! :)
Sherry,
thank you.
the folly of youth, hey? :)
yes, i think i am writing much better now, and finding a voice that is, well, almost my own voice, but sometimes it is still as crybaby and angry as before.
Jae,
yes, throwing away seems like cleansing at times, but the gaps in the periods can't be bridged anymore. to try to find back the old poems that i have written is like staring at an abyss and trying to find a light.
maybe it's a good thing, it forces me to dredge back the memories and rewrite, and to write it better. :)
Julian,
we poets are always optimistic people aren't we? we are always writing that greatest poem. :)
i should be more careful with my books when i move house.
Susan,
yes, better late and never. and like wine, it gets better with age?
i like to compare my early writing like a baby's steps. it's a learning experience. and it gets better with practice. but of course to write, one must read (lots). :)
Mary,
ah, most writers will know. they just refuse to show their faces (or alphabets). :)
Sumana,
thanks! i would like to think that what we have written sometimes do mirror what we have gone through life itself. :)
Robin,
you too?
it's definitely good to see what we have written when we were younger, and compare them with what we are writing now. :)
Luk Lei,
yes, what i have written in my younger days were angst ridden and sensitive, but it is still a development of my writing journey, and if those scribbles are still around, it is a good gauge of how my writing has evolved. but yeah, it is still better to write, than not written, even if the works are lost. :)
Sanaa,
now i think they are precious too. :(
Good Day to you Sir:
Yes...songs, plays, journals handwritten... gone
But, what the hell :)
ZQ
now i am a songwriter and playwright too? :D
thank you, my friend!
Such a poignant nostalgia. And yet, no use repining. We must create our art now. :)
like they said, no use crying over spilled milk?
i do agree with you, we must create our art now. :)
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