of hours sorting through
notes and letters and drawings
from the dusty letter box
where kind missives
presented to me . . . had ended up.
little blurts of my life passages,
put to paper, by my dearly beloveds –
quirky, hand spun, treasures,
that had lasted
much longer than spoken words
or the real moments that they pictured
a retrospective: that left me floating,
as the years of accolades
cascaded round me . . .
on a lumpy cloud
not, at all, comfortable
with the chorus of adoration that
fell, in selectively deceptive kudos,
from the doting chest.
though, it came to me that I had
. . . mostly . . . tried to do my best.
I glugged down a swallow of ice tea
and whispered, the enduring question:
what more?
photos: Retrospective - W. Bourke
© 2014 Wendy Bourke
i think that is about the best we can do at times...our best...and hope for hte rest, you know...it is cool looking back at those little glimpses of our lives...i pull my old journals out pretty regularly....
ReplyDeleteIt's nice if you have mementos of accolades and encouragement from loved ones. Of course you did your best and the compliments are well deserved. Accept that.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your poem very much.
Wendy, how wonderful that you have a place where you can store all of these little treasures & look back at them periodically and remember. And so true that sometimes such little treasures last longer than words. I bet many of those individual treasures would be worthy of their own poems! Smiles.
ReplyDeleteIt's a treat to read your poems Wendy...you write so beautifully...not everyone considers letters worth keeping and those who do enrich themselves by these time's treasures...
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing more than we tried to do our best I think. I am sure you are quite deserving of their kind words. :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this glimpse into your dusty letter box, Wendy. I am sure you deserved the kind words you received and am glad you can look back fondly on them.
ReplyDeleteAll the memories in a blink of an eye!
ReplyDeleteIt could have taken more of our time but writing letters sorely missed. Now just plain sms text or equally boring email are the bad substitutes. Old fashioned letter writing is certainly an art that died with technology! Wonderful write Wendy!
ReplyDeleteHank
Wendy this is truly a beautiful piece of writing. Your treasured memories kept so tenderly. Keepsakes of the heart. I love this!
ReplyDeleteThose boxes - we all have them more or less.. I can see how they are not always comfortable to look through - but still so important - and the moment when we travel and hold them in our hands they are a part of us... So much more than the Instagram and Facebook accounts.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful box of loving reminders that there needn't be more than this.
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful, your being able to spend some time with a part or parts of your past in reflection, comparison, and questioning. Treasure your moments
ReplyDelete(◕‿◕｡) Happy you dropped in at my blog
Much Love…
It is the little things in life that matter, beautifully written from the heart.
ReplyDeletethis reminds me of something i'd planned to do (an idea i got from a book, actually) to create a drawer full of my favorite things...mostly made and written by others who gave them to me.
ReplyDeletethis is a beautiful poem. i read it twice.
stacy lynn mar
warningthestars.blogspot.com
We change as we grow older and wiser and what gave us immense joy, pride and inflated our ego when we were younger may prove to be embarrassing now... Your poem really resonated with me, Wendy.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to have a dusty letter box. I too am sure you are deserving of those years of accolades. Enjoyed!
ReplyDelete