My Poem ‘Retro’

Since I was a kid
I have been exposed and interested
in every decade of the 20th Century,
and I have always been fascinated
by the phenomenon of things created in different decades
that were a staple and an example of their time
that come back into fashion, and the touch of the influence
and the art of them continues to inform the present
in many different and brilliant ways.

I feel like a collage of styles,
likes, lessons, morals, and trends;
I love the fact that I am not stuck or constrained
in any particular way of dressing, thinking about,
or seeing the world, and I never have-
I have always loved individuality and originality,
uniqueness and specialness,
and the things about life and people that never
detract and always enhance.

There is a reason why things repeat;
there is a reason why ideas, designs, and concepts
come back into peoples consciousness time after time;
there is a reason why a good thing never dies;
there is a reason why hearts, minds, and souls meet.

The music of the 1980s,
the ideas of the 1970s,
the style of the 1960s,
the art of the 1950s,
are loved every day and are still all around us
and they can be heard, thought, seen, and enjoyed,
in any and every one of the worlds cities,
and knowing that everything that used to be considered
every-day and ‘run of the mill’ is now truly special,
treasured, and cherished, by people who were
not even born when they were new, unheard, and unseen,
gives them a quintessential, classic, vintage feel,
and ambiance, that some things of the modern age
will not have when they too become replaced
by something that resembles a change of ways,
or a refreshed screen.

I love the look, the feel, the sound, the crackle, of vinyl;
I love seeing and being inside a “classic car”;
I love something that doesn’t ever lose it’s charm,
because it was made to be a one-off,
but has transcended, endured, and lasted,
and will enrich peoples lives forever
and make them smile.
I love as story, a person, that is, and who is,
so special and unique, but also ubiquitous-
but not because they were forced on other to be
who and what they are now considered to be from their genesis,
but because no one took them for granted,
and love them because they will always be as singular as a star.

Seeing an iconic invention and expression of a time gone by
that still exists in some way, is like being in a tunnel
and hearing the distinctive voice of someone in an echo;
seeing the source of a revolution,
and also going back and learning about something of importance’s
origin, is always the best thing in the world-
and that is why I love to rediscover things,
and make a part of my life and me many of the things
that people call and consider nostalgic and retro.

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My Poem ‘Eclipse’

The Sun is shining brightly in the sky,
the birds are singing and flying above in the air,
there isn’t a cloud or a frown to be found anywhere-
it is as if it were a normal, beautiful, day,
when everything around everyone can easily be understood and quantified-
and then, slowly, darkness sweeps over the world
and bathes all in shadow: as a planet, a moon, and a star,
come into perfect alignment together,
and our greatest inspirations in our sky put on a show.
Within a matter of a few seconds,
day has seemingly become night, all eyes look above to the sky
where a phenomenon of nature is taking place-
our Sun’s light has momentarily been eclipsed,
leaving only a faint golden halo to be seen
where minutes ago it was shining epically, blindingly, boldly, and bright.
What was being witnessed now by all
under this veil of magical solar and lunar synchronicity
was strangely and instantly emotional, for myself
and for everyone around me.
I felt humble, and small;
but also blessed, content, overwhelmed,
and elevated somehow, as if I were now ten feet tall.
For the briefest of seconds,
everyone was transfixed by the exact same thing, at the exact same time,
and it felt like we were in the midst of something incredibly special-
something that no one on Earth had a part to play in,
but which they were intended to have witnessed-
something wholly divine.

Then, a burst of unbelievable light exploded on the left-hand-side of the ring
and separated the sun and the moon from their union,
sunlight washed over the world again like a wave,
and revealed Earth- humanities home, that we sometimes take for granted-
to be the perfection that we have been looking for all our lives,
the enigma that requires no solution.
The moon slowly fades beyond our sight, for now,
and the sun seems bigger, brighter,
as if it had been remade behind the silhouette of the moon, somehow.

People continued to look at the sun
in almost disbelief at what they had seen for a few minutes more sometime after,
before returning to whatever it was that they were doing before:
some were still in-awe of the spectacle,
some returned to work without hesitation,
and some people celebrated their joy at having shared such an experience together
by kissing each-other on the lips.
I stood with my hands behind my back, with my eyes closed,
hypnotised long-after by the meaning of the moments of darkness and light-
still with the thoughts in my mind that were brought to life
by the gift of the eclipse.