Deja Vu (Victoria 2010)
Unsought visions crowd in new,
Spurred in mind on unknown
cue.
How came these moments in
recall,
Of life just after World War
Two?
Sense flits in, exact and
true,
Exquisite focus sudden grew
From mental nudge. Perhaps a whiff
Of Lifebuoy soap – or
horsehoof glue?
Worn parquet floor - sad – musty
- grey,
Sheds dancing dust in sunlit
ray.
Then pencil sharpenings,
freshly turned,
Back in my school. Back in
that day!
Lunch bell chimes brief maths
respite,
Green veg cooked grey and carrots
bright.
Taste-free gravy, hard grey
peas,
For bored dispatch with scant
delight.
Some quirk of brain-work,
undefined,
Short-cut emotion, time-warped
mind.
Showed me, myself before. Again
In shorts and cap, life unassigned.
Perhaps I might be happy now?
(Was I then? I do not know).
So why do I regret it’s gone?
My senior years, change won’t
allow!
Derek Pickard July 2010
