Yesterday - a poem

Yesterday

It was in a gift shop
in a back street
on Montmartre.

I was drawn to it
and the single word, “Yesterday”
printed on the tiny cardboard box.

The little metal handle with the red bead
spun a tune from the past.
One that replayed a youth I’d lost so long ago.
A lament of loss,
of a need to turn back time
and once more I embraced that old feeling of ...

Turning the little red handle
ghosts paraded through
a stifled tear.

At once I wanted to cry pain, cry anger,
to fly back to another time,
to take my hammer and violently build.

I was resigned to
stand in a little shop
where I didn’t understand the language
and just be with an old melancholy.

A presence at my elbow,
“I’ll buy that for you.”
grandson, spending my money on gifts for me.

But what price? Yesterday.

Now the little music box movement,
sits on my desk - just under the computer
and near the desk lamp.

It sits asking that question of yesterday,
of tomorrow,
and today.

Andrew -

Once again I don my critic's cap and render assessment of your poetical musings, and good musings they are, as usual.

Your word choice and phrasing are well suited to your subject and the thought is compact and poignant. Your reference to a song about "yesterday' inevitably brings up the sounds and images of Paul McCartney's "Yesterday, " and its haunting words and melody.

All of your poems maintain a consistency of message from stanza to stanza, as all good poems do.

Something I especially like about this one is the unseen but subtly expressed attention of the grandson, who has clearly been observing the reactions of his grandfather to the music box, likely his facial sadness, and then offers to buy it for him. A touching gesture on the part of the boy, aptly brought to the reader's notice.

Another good one.

Andrew,

Another great lyrical masterpiece. I really really loved it. Thank you for taking me to that place, I was "engaged" in every line. Often I want to "fly back to another time". Thank you for being a poet and knowing your subject expertly!

P. S. please disregard if you want my post on that other rather lengthy debate filled other recent thread ..you know which one..so sorry to hear about your mom', but I am sure you celebrate her grace and what she taught you always
Dan

Good stuff here as always, ANDREW!! Your thoughts always paint a picture in my mind, so mission accomplished!

Gosh...I hate" should " in the 21st century...but......your poem is good...and subsequent poems will get better...once you figure out that after the the poem is "performed"....the poet disappears...the poem praises...adulates...critiques...the poet is merely an after thought...and Mary still does the better...tho Martha is needed or Mary disappears... a decent description of transfiguration...for anyone into that...

I suppose this post may be a good test for this thesis...it will pass...everything does....

I use the term perform with deliberation...I wont explain its use...the light...the light...it burns...it burns...the light...the light....

I once posted a Youtube video of Mary Hopkins performing that charming song. It was in another thread about taking a nostalgic look back at the past.

I would think the current topic merits hearing it again:

/www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3KEhWTnWvE

I always liked that song. Thanks guys.

Andrew

Wonderful. Montmartre Is a very special place for me.

You can’t leave, Andrew

Denis - we are the sum of all our yesterdays
Gary - I've only been there once, but would like to see it again someday.
Kit - thank you.

my poems are often missed here - they don't generate many comments and are a bit ephemeral.

I post most of my poems to my blog, I just post a few here that I think are relevant to the HW audience.

peace,
Andrew