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Open Poetry #21
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Madame Chipmunk
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-05
Posts 8296
Michigan

0 posted 2002-08-14 01:54 AM


~Take Me Back to Yesterday~



Take me back to yesterday
to warm summers of innocence
and snow white winters of naivete
when life was written
with the neatness of a child's
newly learned penmanship

and there were only
twenty-six letters to know
***

to the days when we paraded
pink poodles to school
saddle-shoe dancing to rock n roll

and Elvis was still the king
***

scrape away the toxic coats of human upward dance
roll back the gears to simpler years
uncover the seasons of frolic
when the air still smelled of clean
before terrorists broke our bonds of trust

and airplanes were only for travel
***

Take me back to days of old
in friendship's easy clasp
when fantasy movies on weekends
filled us with wonder and popcorn
when the glass slipper fit

and the prince was still charming
***

before the skies were blighted with doom
and cities were forested
with dust of death and nukes and bombs

and paths were green
and trodden safe by feet of flesh
***

take me back





Lyra

copyright2002 Lyra Nesius

"poetry is life distilled"  Gwendolyn Brooks

[This message has been edited by Madame Chipmunk (08-14-2002 01:55 AM).]

© Copyright 2002 Lyra Nesius - All Rights Reserved
Eloise
Senior Member
since 1999-11-27
Posts 1096
Wyoming
1 posted 2002-08-14 02:00 AM


What wonderful memories!  Take me back too
Suetang
Member Ascendant
since 2001-03-07
Posts 5187
Melbourne, Australia
2 posted 2002-08-14 02:18 AM


Hello Lyra

How I'd love to take your hand and go back to a time that was innocent and full of wonder.  I worry about what life holds in store for my ten year old daughter and sometimes I can't bear to think about it.  It is the simple things that mean the most and unfortunately we all seem to get caught up in the rush of life instead of stopping to smell the roses.  Your marvellous words held so many messages for so many.  Your words always delight me and I thank you for bearing your beautiful soul.

Take care my friend......Sue

I am in motion
I am blue
Love is an ocean
I'm anchored in you
- Shawn Mullins

Duncan
Member Ascendant
since 2001-08-07
Posts 5455

3 posted 2002-08-14 02:23 AM


I certainly understand and agree with the sentiment.  Into a whole new childhood here.  I'll toast them both.

Mysteria
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Member Laureate
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328
British Columbia, Canada
4 posted 2002-08-14 02:46 AM


Wait for me!  Lyra, very thought provoking piece, and I too wish for simple times.  Hugs wee Chipmunk

I pass this way but once, here's hoping I meet you.   Sharon

Mistletoe Angel
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Member Empyrean
since 2000-12-17
Posts 32816
Portland, Oregon
5 posted 2002-08-14 03:57 AM




(tears fall down my cheeks) Oh Lyra, I wish I could have lived part if not all of those special days, the latest United Nations report has hurt me deeply and of the Asian Brown Cloud and I wish Mother Nature could be beautiful as before just as I wish I could have lived in times when innocence prospered so much more, for even though every time has had its downs I feel none compare to now! (BIG HUGGGSSSSSSS) This is sadly heartfelt, sweet friend, God Bless You, we all love you so much! You have such a beautiful heart, sweet Lyra, thank you for sharing!



May love and light always shine upon you!

Love,
Noah Eaton

"Underneath your clothes there's an endless story..."

Shakira

Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
6 posted 2002-08-14 06:55 AM



Now this song will be in my head all day...but thank you for that, and thank you for expressing so very well the nostalgia that is easy to come about when we miss the things that made us comfortable in life...

Hugs on you!

Toerag
Member Ascendant
since 1999-07-29
Posts 5622
Ala bam a
7 posted 2002-08-14 07:49 AM


Was that just yesterday?....Yanno, it seems so much longer than that?...(marijuana won't hurt ya, won't hurt ya, won't hurt ya)....nice write, and wouldn't that be a wish come true!!, back when there were still widespread morals, violence was mostly a fist fight not guns...leave it to Beaver's mom was supposedly very sexy if she showed an ankle?....Bobbie Sock for a Toerag?....

[This message has been edited by Toerag (08-14-2002 07:49 AM).]

NewEnglandlazurlu
Member Rara Avis
since 2002-01-04
Posts 7470
A Mountain Paradise
8 posted 2002-08-14 09:19 AM


Wait, wait ~ I'm going with you! I giggled and cried and got goosebumps when I read this Lyra. Fabulous writing.

There has to be a way we can all return to the times of innocence and calm. Everyone wants it but we just can't seem to get there! How sad....


Goodknight
Member Elite
since 2002-06-15
Posts 2386
Ohio, USA
9 posted 2002-08-14 10:07 AM


Lyra - a lovely stroll down memory lane - maybe even doing the Stroll - I remember all you wrote too though I remember feeling very insecure during the 50s and the McCarthy era when I feared there was going to be a nuclear attack...guess for me even the good old days have some challenges in them - thanks for the wonderful write - Paul
catalinamoon
Deputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-06-03
Posts 9543
The Shores of Alone
10 posted 2002-08-14 03:56 PM


Ah, Lyra, you have captured so much of that time. And to think its been 25 year since Elvis left us. Not to mention all the other things and people, gone forever.

I am sad.
Love your poem though.
Sandra

Magnus
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Member Laureate
since 2001-10-10
Posts 14135
South Carolina, USA
11 posted 2002-08-14 05:20 PM


When you find a way to go there....let me
know, cause I will hold on to you tightly
and take the ride...to where times were
far more simpler and easier to manage...
Life is far more complicated now than ever
back then... Hugs Madame Chippermunch....

Midnitesun
Deputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Empyrean
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647
Gaia
12 posted 2002-08-14 07:31 PM


I don't want to go back. Some of the memories are good, some not so good. But the poem was excellent! It's so good to read you again, Lyra.  Let's surf into the future on a wave of Love and Poetry, and dream of our own Utopias.
Hugs, Kacy

Madame Chipmunk
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-05
Posts 8296
Michigan
13 posted 2002-08-14 11:45 PM


Thanks so much, Sue...
I worry about the future for my grandkids also...
but then I remember, and this was before your time...
That we went through a lot of air raid drills when I was in grade school...
and they convinced us that the Russians were going to bomb us.  We had to wear metal dog tags to school so that in case we were bombed, our parents could claim our bodies...
and there were fallout shelters in everyone's basement...
So, I guess things haven't changed as much as we think they have.
~ chipmunk hugs

Lyra

copyright2002 Lyra Nesius

"poetry is life distilled"  Gwendolyn Brooks

Madame Chipmunk
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-05
Posts 8296
Michigan
14 posted 2002-08-14 11:46 PM


Thanks so much, Duncan...I will toast your new childhood also...
congratulations on being a kid again.
~ congratulatory hugs

Lyra

copyright2002 Lyra Nesius

"poetry is life distilled"  Gwendolyn Brooks

Madame Chipmunk
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-05
Posts 8296
Michigan
15 posted 2002-08-14 11:48 PM


Thanks so much, Sharon...
Actually those times were far from simple...
Here in the states, we were constantly being fed anti-Russian propaganda,  along with air raid drills in school...
I hadn't thought of all that when I wrote the poem.
~ wee chipmunk hugging you back

Lyra

copyright2002 Lyra Nesius

"poetry is life distilled"  Gwendolyn Brooks

Madame Chipmunk
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-05
Posts 8296
Michigan
16 posted 2002-08-14 11:51 PM


Thanks so much, Noah...
Times were really not all that simple in the fifties, Noah...but we didn't have the Asian Brown Cloud...
We didn't have as much industry and as much pollution as we do now...
and I guess that times do get more complicated as the years go by.
~ lots of chipmunk hugs

Lyra

copyright2002 Lyra Nesius

"poetry is life distilled"  Gwendolyn Brooks

Madame Chipmunk
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-05
Posts 8296
Michigan
17 posted 2002-08-14 11:54 PM


Thanks so much, Karilea...
The fifties are fun to remember.  The pink poodle skirts, saddle shoes and Elvis but there were also air raid drills in school every day, and we were always worrying about the Russians bombing us...and of course, don't forget the fallout shelters...
In NYC, where I grew up, we had to wear metal dog tags so our parents could identify our bodies....
Times were far from simple, but probably not as complicated as they are now.
~ hugs from a garden pest

Lyra

copyright2002 Lyra Nesius

"poetry is life distilled"  Gwendolyn Brooks

Madame Chipmunk
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-05
Posts 8296
Michigan
18 posted 2002-08-14 11:57 PM


So true, Mr. Toe....
Marijuana won't hurt you...
it will just scramble your brains until you start to resemble Beaver Cleaver or someone in his perfect family.
Did you know that he had a little sister named Chipmunk Cleaver?
~ hugs from the chipmunk

Lyra

copyright2002 Lyra Nesius

"poetry is life distilled"  Gwendolyn Brooks

Madame Chipmunk
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-05
Posts 8296
Michigan
19 posted 2002-08-14 11:59 PM


Thanks so much, Marti...
Yes come along with me but don't forget the threats of the fifties either...
McCarthyism, fallout shelters, the Russians, the bomb, Hiroshima...just to name a few.
~
hugs from chipmunk dragging you back to fifties

Lyra

copyright2002 Lyra Nesius

"poetry is life distilled"  Gwendolyn Brooks

Madame Chipmunk
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-05
Posts 8296
Michigan
20 posted 2002-08-15 12:01 PM


Thanks so much for reminding me of that, Paul.
It makes me wonder if we really ever had innocent times...
but I still think things get more complicated as the years go by.
~ memory lane hugs from chipmunk

Lyra

copyright2002 Lyra Nesius

"poetry is life distilled"  Gwendolyn Brooks

Madame Chipmunk
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-05
Posts 8296
Michigan
21 posted 2002-08-15 12:03 PM


Thanks so much, Sandra...
Isn't it sad that good times can't last forever?  
But I really think that everything looks better than it really was, when seen through the perspective of memory, because we don't know how bad things can really get until they happen.
~ hugs from an old chipmunk

Lyra

copyright2002 Lyra Nesius

"poetry is life distilled"  Gwendolyn Brooks

Madame Chipmunk
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-05
Posts 8296
Michigan
22 posted 2002-08-15 12:05 PM


Thanks so much, Barry...
Please tag along...join the party and we will go back there and then we will find that although things were less complicated, they were also no less scary than they are now...
Did you have air raid drills in grade school every week?  I did.
~ time machine hugs from a chipmunk

Lyra

copyright2002 Lyra Nesius

"poetry is life distilled"  Gwendolyn Brooks

Madame Chipmunk
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-05
Posts 8296
Michigan
23 posted 2002-08-15 12:08 PM


Its so good to see you back, Kacy...
I was just beginning to worry about you...
And I agree with you, about times not being so great back then...
But we always remember the good stuff because its more fun...
thats just human nature.
~ welcome back hugs from a chipmunk

Lyra

copyright2002 Lyra Nesius

"poetry is life distilled"  Gwendolyn Brooks

BloomingRose
Member Elite
since 2000-08-09
Posts 3092
Florida
24 posted 2002-08-15 08:53 AM


Those are really lovely memories. Wish we could return to "the good ole days".
Enjoyed!

Deb

Madame Chipmunk
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-05
Posts 8296
Michigan
25 posted 2002-08-15 12:56 PM


Thanks so much, Deb...
Now I have to write a companion piece to this one, about all the things that were wrong in the fifites.
~ hugs from the past

Lyra

copyright2002 Lyra Nesius

"poetry is life distilled"  Gwendolyn Brooks

Samantha G Kennedy
Member
since 2002-07-27
Posts 131
Kent England
26 posted 2002-08-16 06:04 AM


ahhhh and take us back you did


what a fantastic write!!

I love this, and your gifted quill expells expression beautifully

Sammie

^i^


"and Elvis was still the king"

stangely enough, he died this day 16th of August 77

Toerag
Member Ascendant
since 1999-07-29
Posts 5622
Ala bam a
27 posted 2002-08-16 09:33 AM


His mom is really getting old too....they call her "Silver Beaver" now...

[This message has been edited by Toerag (08-16-2002 11:55 AM).]

ethome
Member Patricius
since 2000-05-14
Posts 11858
New Brunswick Canada
28 posted 2002-08-16 11:38 AM


Ah...sweet memories...nicely done...a real pleasure to read!
Madame Chipmunk
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-05
Posts 8296
Michigan
29 posted 2002-08-16 12:35 PM


Thanks so much, Sammie...
You write so well that even your replies are poetic...
~ poetic hugs from a chipmunk

Lyra

copyright2002 Lyra Nesius

"poetry is life distilled"  Gwendolyn Brooks

Madame Chipmunk
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-05
Posts 8296
Michigan
30 posted 2002-08-16 12:36 PM


Thanks Mr.Toe...
and you can call me Silverchip...
~ hugs from an old chipmunk

Lyra

copyright2002 Lyra Nesius

"poetry is life distilled"  Gwendolyn Brooks

Madame Chipmunk
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-05
Posts 8296
Michigan
31 posted 2002-08-16 12:38 PM


Thanks so much, Eric...
I'm glad you enjoyed my memories.
~ hugs from the olden days

Lyra

copyright2002 Lyra Nesius

"poetry is life distilled"  Gwendolyn Brooks

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