There is a scene in season finale of season 1 of Mad Men where our protagonist Don Draper described Kodak's photograph slide projector "The Carousel" He talks about it being able to take us to a place we 'ache to go to again' and that is what inspired this poem. Nostalgia, Don says, in Greek means 'the pain of an old wound'
That sentence struck me, it's a pain that we still yearn to have, a sadness that somehow produces contentment, a metaphoric death that reminds us of life. I was in bed when this poem came to me, trying, but unable to sleep, and the words just seemed to come one by one leading me to rush out of bed, grab a notepad and write them down. Nostalgia for me is a bottled memory, a perfect instance in time, a moment of happiness and peace that I can always return to but never reproduce, and this inability to replicate that happiness is the sad part, Nostalgia is bitter, yet sweet, mournful, yet euphoric. These feelings are what informs this poem. I hope you like it
"Nostalgia"
Now memories are my comfort
Now sleep is my succour
for dreams have become my reality
Fantasy has become my truth
Pain has become my pleasure
Loss has become my gain
The past is now my future
Our yesterdays are my tomorrows
Nostalgia, my sustenance
The tragic romantic
Cursed to forever reach, but never grasp
Forever love, but never loved
Julian E. Obubo
August 2010
