Palace of the Past [Again]

Today’s poem can be sung to the tune of The Big Rock Candy Mountain. I discovered this song when I watched the excellent “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” by the Coen brothers. Check out the song and the movie, because they are both worth your time.

Alright, the poem starts in 3… 2… 1!

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One night, as the full moon came right up,
she thought about existence.
Her thoughts flew left, right, down, and up,
without any resistance.

🧠💭

She thought about the moments that,
had come and gone and passed.
Her mind drifted and stopped right at,
the Palace of her Past.

🏰

At the shiny Palace of her Past,
her life was always rich!
Her flag flew at the fullest mast,
and her clothes were richly stitched.

👸

She thought of the endless stories,
of times that were gone and done.
The days that were full of glory,
and the nights that were full of fun!

👯‍♂️🥳🎆🎊🎉

Through the view of her red rose-tinted lens,
she saw no senseless pain.
The Palace was just never tense,
and happiness would rain.

🤡

There were friends and pals all over,
and lovers full of love!
The drinks caused no hangovers.
There were happy clouds above!

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

Around the Palace she would look,
and feel so very smug.
Nostalgia had her fully hooked,
it’s such a knock-out drug!

💉

But then she stopped and wondered,
and paused a bit to think.
She realised her blunder,
and felt like she would sink.

🏊‍♀️

She saw that she was cornered in,
behind the golden bars.
And realized that she had been,
ignoring all her scars.

🤕

It took a while to sink in,
and panicked her to death.
It got her really thinking,
she paused to take a breath.

😥

She told herself she had to let,
that hollow palace go.
For then and only then she'd get,
a chance to really grow.

🚀

She twisted and bent and pushed through,
the bars of her golden jail.
She gave herself the license to,
just stumble, fall, and fail.

😌

Her life was no longer askew,
it finally felt pleasant.
For she had broken through into,
the Playground of her Present.

🏞️

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That’s it! Thanks for reading Hello Universe this week.

I wrote this poem almost exactly a year ago when a friend suggested “nostalgia” as a topic. Nothing says “nostalgia” louder than reposting something from a year ago. 😅

I don’t usually publish such long poems. If you liked this, please do let me know, and I would be happy to write and publish some more longform poetry. Your feedback and encouragement will be much appreciated! 😇

Check out “Some Fun Stuff” below…

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Some fun stuff:

This is a place where I share something cool to read, something cool to listen to, and something cool to watch! The underlined words are links that you can click to visit the recommended content.

1. Read “Onions” by Igor Ranc: My good friend Igor published his first short story. It is a triumph. Read now! ✍

2. Listen to Cadillac by Ivy Lab: A groovy and grimy track that will have you bobbing your head and feeling good in no time. 🎶

3. Watch Sidequest: If you liked Oversimplified from my recent recommendations, then Sidequest will be right up your alley. A light hearted animated representation of historic events is really the best way to learn history. Watch now! 📺

I would love it if you also shared some fun stuff that you love to read/ listen to/ watch across the internet, down in the comments.

See you next week!