Architecture, Olympus OM-2, Poetry

by Patrick JenningsMar 23, 20186:00 pm

Times I Never Lived

Times I Never Lived, Blue Swallow Motel, Route 66, Tucumcari, New Mexico, United States of America

I like to reminisce
About
Times I never lived

They seem to be much
Grander
Than the times I’m living now

I create them like
A dream
All lofty and sublime

Believing there’s
A truth
To the beauty of the lie

Blue Swallow Motel
Route 66
Tucumcari
New Mexico, United States of America

Taken during travels, 1997

6Comment

1

Tim Harlow on Mar 23, 2018 at 6:44 pm
Reply

I grew up in El Paso, TX just down the road from Tucumcari, NM. Your photo brings back so many memories from those days. Maybe we romanticize the “old days” because we were young with no real cares or responsibilities. Who knows, but I love the feeling of that place too. Thanks!

LikeLiked by 1 person
- 2
  
  Patrick Jennings on Mar 25, 2018 at 11:34 pm
  Reply
  
  There were a whole lot of fascinating small towns along Route 66. Tucumcari was among my favourites too … all that neon! There were also some spectacular Art Deco buildings in Shamrock, Texas. Seligman, Winslow and Kingman in Arizona were also quite marvelous.
  
  I’m a city guy, but I sure do love to linger a while in the small towns.
  
  I’m going to reply a bit more about romanticizing and reminiscing in a reply to Miriam, below.
  
  LikeLike
3

Miriam on Mar 23, 2018 at 8:51 pm
Reply

It’s good to reminisce and dream.

LikeLiked by 1 person
- 4
  
  Patrick Jennings on Mar 25, 2018 at 11:49 pm
  Reply
  
  =) Yes, it is good. Essential, even. So long as we maintain honesty and integrity about it.
  
  The poem is a response to the hankering for a better time from a past that never really was, for example, the desire for ‘the good old days’ that is “Make America Great Again”.
  
  When asked “when was America great?” many of #MAGA’s strongest proponents hearken back to times before civil rights and the women’s movement, or even further back to the years before Emancipation. I’m not sure they’re always unconscious of the fact that, for a vast population of Americans, those times were not so great.
  
  That said, the poem’s primary inspiration is the notion that not only do we sometimes see the grass as greener on the other side, it is also greener in our past.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
5

Tim Harlow on Mar 26, 2018 at 9:16 am
Reply

👍

LikeLiked by 1 person
- 6
  
  Patrick Jennings on Mar 26, 2018 at 9:23 pm
  Reply
  
  =)
  
  LikeLike

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel.