Ghosts in the Machine (Poetry Monthly)

Gold cherry
Poem of the week

By Philip Sidney

Sat, 17 Oct 2015
  • 8328 reads
29 comments
 

Time floats above as I go down the old roads

 

some look smarter, tarred against the dust and mud

of those oddly long ago days, yet

I can instantly conjure our young selves

tripping over rocks

telling stories of our future

longing to dart towards it like the fantail

with a flush, flashing its feathers

vanishing into the blue.

 

I’m a virtual vagrant wandering digital pathways

finding all the backways and blind alleys

of shabby towns off the highway

trying to defy the limit, sure

that what I am looking for

is up that grass path

around a hidden bend

if only I could get there.

 

Our ghosts are still there, on a dirt track

too far back to

stumble over like old friends

on a well-trodden way, we are

forever children, stranded in mire and time

shrieking our pleasure, our terror

knowing

we shall never be found.

Certificate 12
Poem

Comments

Submitted by VeraClark on

Trapped in photos of infancy and adolescence. Strangely enough, I'd welcome that. Beautifully conveyed journey to your past. The streets we know but changed. Beautifully done, one of my favourites of yours.

 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thank you so much Vera.  What a lovely comment. :)

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

love this one too. A virtual vagrant - perfect way of putting it!

 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thank you insert. :)

Submitted by Bee on

I loved this. I Posted a story some time back called All the Ghosts of Us because I believe all our old selves are out there still, but I suppose they are memories. Your poem is perfect and very beautiful. 

Bee

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

I agree with you, Bee.  It's nice to visit them from time to time.  :)

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Looking back at the looking forward; refound roads and houses look so much smaller than the memories of them! But good to have the memories, and many turns of the road still to come. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thanks Rhiannon.  Strange how the bends and turns speed towards us as we grow older.  :)

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thank you for the cherries.  smiley

Submitted by scratch on

Is the recollection reliable, is it real even?  That it is there makes it real.  I like this very much too.

 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thank you Scratch.  smiley

Submitted by cassiegoeswild on

"A virtual vagrant wandering digital pathways" - I think this sums up our society doesnt it. We used to be outside living life, now we are inside looking for it. Really great poem - I love the structure and the meandering flow.

Cass

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thanks so much cassiegoeswild.  :)

Submitted by Ewan on

Liked the extended metaphor of road and track.

"We are forever children stranded in mire and time"

was particularly well put.

Bravo.

Author Page at the 'Zon
 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thanks Ewan.  Glad you liked it.  :)

Submitted by jeand on

Hi Helen

Lovely poem with special affects you are famous for.

Jean

Jean Day

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thanks Jean.  :)

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

This is our Facebook and Twitter Pick of the Day!

Get a great reading recommendation every day

 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Wow!  Golden cherries smiley.  Thank you so much! 

Submitted by celticman on

the way we were is the way we are, we can use the metaphor of car to travel back on that road, but old ghosts use post-it notes. 

 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

I wondered where all those scraps of paper were coming from.  Love to think of my ghosts leaving messages.  :)

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

What a lovely surprise!  Thank you for PoW. smiley

Submitted by celticman on

forever children my friend that strand should never end. wonderful telling. 

 

Submitted by Pat G on

Wonderful lines. Most of us are mired, but you've escaped with this piece, leaving only a trace: Our ghosts are still there,

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thanks Pat. 

Submitted by loquaciousicity on

Time envelops us... 'right now', envisaging the future or reflecting on the past... we flow witht the flow...

super poem!

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thanks Terry, pleased you liked it.

Submitted by Sim on

This profound poem has great resonance for me. A fascinating discourse on the nature of memory and the ghosts of past, present and future!

I like the lines'telling stories of our future
longing to dart towards it like the fantail'

I think all writers are virtual vagrants. What freedom we enjoy!

Sim

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thank you so much Sim!  Couldn't get by without the ghosts.  :)