A Wanderer Returns

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

Another new poem today, a villanelle.

Conjuring up happy memories when times are tough can be a very effective way of dealing with stress. As regular readers know, I will be 75 later this year and am dealing with several health issues although, thankfully, I can still (sort of) look after myself and live at home.

Living alone can be tough as we get older, too, but, as we hear on the News every day, there are so many people in the world having to contend with the most awful circumstances, that just thinking about them puts one’s own situation into perspective. In the grand scheme of things, yours truly remains one of the lucky ones.

Since Covid-19, I have probably spent more time on Memory Lane then ever before, being sure to stay on the sunny side, of course; there will always be shadows ... not least in the form of mistakes we have made, often affecting others as much as if not more than ourselves. 

Our past and any associated sense of of regret, even guilt never (quite) goes away, but recalling happier times can help restore any flagging faith in ourselves, others or, indeed, in life itself, not least at that lowest point in the human psyche when we can but wonder … why, oh, why?  

There are few straight answers, even fewer quick fixes in life. We can but press on regardless, do our best to deserve those brighter aspects  that at least parts (even if not the greater part) of Memory Lane shine on us all even in darker times.

It is light, not darkness that defines, reassures, regenerates and, yes, may well redeem the human mind-body-spirit … if we let it.

A WANDERER RETURNS

On a whim, revisiting a favourite place

after many years away,

to help part-redeem my personal space

Everyone staring, wearing a smiley face,

yet nothing to say;

on a whim, revisiting a favourite place

Childhood, through a veil of mystic lace,

catching the light of day,

to help part-redeem my personal space

Memories, grasping at a charm and grace

where once I gathered hay;

on a whim, revisiting a favourite place

Of unsettled times, lonely tears, no trace,

wishful thinking kept at bay,

to help part-redeem my personal space

Whether or not any dog deserves its day,

time passes, come what may;

On a whim, revisiting a favourite place

to help part-redeem my personal space

Copyright R N. Taber 2020