Memory and Yearning

[PrinceMyshkin]

Everyone looks like somebody else
you saw on some other street
or in one of the ethnic restaurants
in your neighbourhood..

Yesterday, I saw my brother,
who’s been dead for thirty-one years.
I’ll see him again, I believe.

[aliengirl]

These candid lines immediately struck a chord. The first stanza reminds me of the incident when I saw a girl in a shop who looked exactly like my former classmate. I almost spoke to her but realized my mistake as she didn't even respond to my surprised gaze.
And what shall I say about the second one? I've seen the likeness of my father in some faces but we always walk away in different directions.

[Jack of Hearts]

Great poem, Prince. That last line is carrying a lot of weight.







J

[Jerrybaldy]

Surprised by your expectation of an afterlife unless I misread something here. Either way, always, always a pleasure to read.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Surprised by your expectation of an afterlife unless I misread something here. Either way, always, always a pleasure to read.

You did misread that part of it, my hair-deficient friend. I'm not sure how I'd explain the business of everyone looking like somebody else, but I meant by the ending that my yearning for my brother might at some point delude me into thinking that I saw him.

[Hawkman]

I know that feeling of misplaced recognition. Well expressed, Prince.

Live and be well - H