I’m nostalgic for Catalunya:
iron-red earth and the Serrat
and Els Cingles de Berti,
Tagament,
Vic, Tarragona,
Barcelona, always and
the Costa Brava or Costa Daurada:
of course I’m nostalgic for
Catalunya.
I’m nostalgic for the South
of Spain
where warm Saharan winds blow
and the mountains are
like dragon-backs:
where life is Andaluz-ly led
among the orange groves
the scent of my nostalgia.
I’m nostalgic for London in the rain
so different to the South of Spain:
Coram’s Fields where children’s
shouts of joy remember
foundlings. The South Bank,
Greenwich and the Old East End
where the chain-clad flower seller cries
true London.
I’m nostalgic for the Lake District
where beauty can almost be held
in the palm of your hand:
this is your playground
where earth unfolds to heaven
Romanticism’s cradle
poets’ nursery.
I’m nostalgic for all of these places
but here I write
from the wild, ravenous lushness of
May in Slovenia. And so I realise
wherever I may find myself
I’ll always find
nostalgia and a life
forever steeped
and walked in beauty.
© Experimentsinfiction 2021, All Rights Reserved
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Posting for the 69th Open Link Weekend. I’ve been having a lot of attacks of nostalgia recently. And I realised it’s only possible to have nostalgia for the places you leave behind. If I ever leave Slovenia, I will no doubt be nostalgic for my time here.
This poem was inspired by the writings of Sanaa Rizvi, whose poetry collection Moon Bath I read and reviewed this week. I have not tried to match her style but rather capture something of the wistful mood of her writing.
That is a nostalgia I know very well, Ingrid, and your poem resonated deeply. I don’t know Spain or the Lake District (an area I’d like to be acquainted with), but the stanza about London got to me, and the general feeling of homesickness for places where you were happy. The final stanza hits the nail on the head – I feel the same way about Norfolk, although I have been here for almost thirty years now. 😉
Thanks Kim! I think it’s easy to view the past through rose-tinted glasses, especially if you are going through a difficult time. But I know fine well life wasn’t always rosy in any of the places I wrote about!
This is beautiful. I am nostalgia for places in my past too. The subtle insight of your last stanza expresses the complexity of such feelings very well.
Thank you Suzanne.
Although I am something of a fan of Attacks of Nostalgia (their eponymous debut particularly) I always wondered if they would have been better suited as Waves of Nostalgia? That’s just me.
Excellent work, Ingrid. Have a lovely weekend.
x
Maybe it’s just me who has ‘Attacks’ – Waves sound much more enjoyable!
I have never been to any of these places you speak of, but they live for me through your words and memories of them – thank you for sharing.
Perhaps you will get to visit some of them one day! I would love to see South Africa.
A lovely poem. I used to get nostalgic, but that’s in the past!
Bu-bum-tsss!
😂
Very lovely!
Thank you 😊
Ah, I know that feeling so well. When we have lived in different countries we never quite forget where we are from or where we have been. I really enjoyed your poem ☺️
Ah, I know that feeling so well. When we have lived in different countries we never quite forget where we are from or where we have been. I really enjoyed your poem ☺️
Thank you Christine, I am glad it resonates. For me it’s almost a feeling of belonging everywhere and nowhere!
Yes sometimes I feel ripped in two. I’m not sure how you ever go back, other than for visits 😕
Eloquent. It is easy for me to be nostalgic about any place I’ve lived or visited for an extended period. You’ve captured these well.
Thank you Ron. It’s practically pathological with me!
Lovely, Ingrid. I did notice a couple times when you told people you were nostalgic for English places or things.
I can understand. I don’t think I’m nostalgic for any places so much–more so for past times.
Thank you Merril. That’s interesting: maybe I do that too, for example I’m nostalgic for the place where Ollie took his first steps because it reminds me of when he was a baby.
Yes, that’s the kind of thing I meant. Of course, I haven’t lived in all sorts of different places like you have. 😀
Ingrid, you carried me away. To each place, where I learned intimate details that can only be told by someone who has lived the experience, not just a traveler passing through. 💖 You know I am yearning to travel. This poem gave me a poetic escape. Thank you. Beautiful!
I know this nostalgia well. I love all the place names and memories in this poem……….A Canadian poet, Al Purdy wrote a famous poem titled Say the Names which your poem reminds me of. You might like it……..the place names roll off as one reads. I so enjoyed your poem.
Thank you Sherry, I will look it up and read!
That nostalgia, yearning for other times in other places: the soul’s wanderlust I wonder? The vibe of the distant in the seethe of the known? Such places you savor — all so wonderful sounding. Groomed by the growing artist for what, I wonder. It will surely show up in the work … B
Thank you Brendan. Let’s hope so!
“I’m nostalgic for the South
of Spain
where warm Saharan winds blow
and the mountains are
like dragon-backs:
where life is Andaluz-ly led
among the orange groves
the scent of my nostalgia. ”
Aw… me too… me too.. beautiful poem.
xoxo
It’s a beautiful place! ❤️
🥰🌹❤️
Indeed 🙂
Dazzling imagery makes me thirsty for adventure, but grateful for the beauty that surrounds me everyday.
Both are important I think 😊
It’s good that you still hold those places in your heart. (K)
Yes, I was lucky to experience them all.
I think many of us have wandering thoughts of place traveled before, perhaps it because we have been unable to travel new roads.
Particularly over the last year!
Wonderful poem Ingrid and Spain is on my list for sure. I loved your lines at the end “I realize
wherever I may find myself
I’ll always find
nostalgia and a life
forever steeped
and walked in beauty”.
I feel the same way wherever I travel in places I love❣️🤗💗
It’s all a blessing really 🥰
💖❣️🙏
Oh my heart this is absolutely gorgeous, Ingrid! I especially admire; “I’m nostalgic for London in the rain so different to the South of Spain: Coram’s Fields where children’s shouts of joy remember foundlings.” It’s such a pleasure to read your work and more so to be your friend 😍 thank you for the kind mention. 💝💝
The pleasure is mine 🥰