Thursday, July 03, 2025

1185. Nothing Is Lost - Noel Coward


Deep in the sub-conscious we are told

Lie all our memories, lie all the notes

Of all the music we have ever heard 

And all the phrases those we loved have spoken, 

Sorrows and losses time has since consoled,

Family jokes, outmoded anecdotes

Each sentimental souvenir and token

Everything seen, experienced, each word

Addressed to us in infancy before,

Before we we could even know or understand

The implications of our wonderland.

There they all are, the legendary lies

The birthday treats, the sights, the sounds, the tears

Forgotten debris of forgotten years

Waiting to be recalled, waiting to rise

Before our world dissolves before our eyes

Waiting for some small, intimate reminder,

A word, a tune, a known familiar scent

And echo from the past when, innocent

We looked upon the present with delight

And doubted not the future would be kinder

A never knew the loneliness of night.