{By Daniel Mooney}
Photography by Adam Baranyi. His profile is available in the Art & Photography section.
Nostalgia is old but always changes
Before, once historic, far-off places,
Now, cheery smiles on mask-less faces
The leaping joy of warm embraces,
Or rainy days when we would meet
In quaint cafés on quiet streets.
Things taken for granted, now, no more
Like echoes of some time before;
The ‘prinks’, the pomp and circumstance
Of nights of drink and song and dance.
That all did vanish overnight, confined to times when life was life,
Fun and bright.
Nostalgia is old but always changes
As things go back to normal again,
We’ll start to say, “Remember when…”
The Zoom quizzes, lives lived on screens,
Locked-down lovers, what-might-have-beens.
Remember the scenes,
Remember the memes!
The boredom that made you want to scream.
The things we cursed,
The things that got worse,
All swept away in the rose-coloured tide,
Because once it is over,
The grass always looks greener on the other side.
Nostalgia is old but always changes.
Daniel Mooney
Daniel Mooney is a postgraduate law student hailing from Naas in County Kildare. Away from his academic studies, he writes poetry in his spare time. He is particularly inspired by the works of Gerard Manley Hopkins and W.B. Yeats among others. This particular poem is inspired by the progress of time – especially from the pandemic.
