Perhaps it’s just the oppressive gloom that has set in following such a spell of brilliance, though grey days don’t usually bring me down.
As I always say, grey days have their place.
It was something else that got me…
.
On the way to Clifton Park we always pass this forlorn house, just one of so very many.
A couple of weeks ago, I came across a poem on the internet, an ode to an abandoned house.
It was poignant and spoke to me.
Why did I not make a copy? I always copy things that please me.
Not always, apparently…
.
While I was searching, I came upon this item which did not please me particularly, but did amuse me.
Mine is a very simple mind.
My friend Tim once had a favourite menu item:
“Cocked Wine” (for Coq au Vin)
.
Then I came upon a copy I had grabbed of a very favourite painting.
.
And a lovely poem by Robert Frost.
Nature so often rescues me from a low mood.
.
A philosophical offering by T.S. Eliot
I like it without quite knowing why.
.
and another by Marcus Aurelius:
.
.
Then I found I had copied the words to a very poignant song, “If” by Roger Whitaker:
.
.
Followed by:
.
.
So you see, I do copy things I wish to remember, but could I come up with that poem to an abandoned house? Well no problem, I thought I’d just look it up but then found a multitude of such poems, so which one was it that spoke to me?
It took a lot of looking and altering of search words, but here it is:
.
.
It’s was empty house. Abandoned or empty, they seem to inspire a lot of emotion.
.
At lunch, another emotion.
Something triggered a memory of dear old Tom who used to covet my lunch which in those days consisted of mini-bagels filled with cream cheese.
Tom adored cheese of any kind.
.
Tom died in 2019, Colin a year later.
After that, we were blessed with 2 loss-free years.
Then came 4 in a row. With multiple pets, this can sometimes happen.
Talking about Tom inevitably brought up the memory of all those others. Not that they could ever be forgotten.
.
.
.
These are the 4 most recent losses, but the many others will always live in my heart.
There are times when it still hurts so much, but what would life be like without our beloved animal companions? I cannot imagine it. I only hope to have done my best for them and that I am forgiven for my mistakes.
Thank you, Carolyn, for the philosophical musing, pictures of your beloved friends, and the poems.
I like stoics in particular.
Joanna
Was it possibly “Abandoned Farmhouse” by Ted Kooser?
“He was a big man, says the size of his shoes
on a pile of broken dishes by the house;
a tall man too, says the length of the bed
in an upstairs room; and a good, God-fearing man,
says the Bible with a broken back
on the floor below the window, dusty with sun;…”
https://www.josieholford.com/abandoned-farmhouse/
Lovely post. So much to dwell in and think on.
I found many good poems including that one but the one I posted about the empty house was the one I was searching for.
You share some wonderful thoughts/poems here Carolyn. I especially like Roger Whitaker’s song “If” – thanks for the words. And the poem about the abandoned house is just as lovely. (Isn’t it wonderful how someone can be so blessed to use words to describe something as “simple” as an old house)? And you’re right, we never forget our animals who are no longer with us – it was good to see Lucy, Penny, Toby and Patches again (they’re in my heart too).
Marcus Aurelius talked a lot of sense. The poem about the tree was poignant. I once saw someone burning a fallen tree in his large garden. I thought how it was the whole world to many hundreds of tiny creatures at one time, and hoped that they had escaped the fire.
Best wishes, Pete.