I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my lids and all is born again.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
And arbitrary blackness gallops in:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
God topples from the sky, hell's fires fade:
Exit seraphim and Satan's men:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
I fancied you'd return the way you said,
But I grow old and I forget your name.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
I should have loved a thunderbird instead;
At least when spring comes they roar back again.
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
Why? I hear you ask. Why a love song with these photos? It’s hard to explain. Maybe it’s because I fear that in our rush to renovate and renew we will wipe away the stories of our yesterdays. Maybe it’s because only a mad girl will go around chronicling the memories of an all-but-forgotten generation. Or it could be because I insanely wonder whether I will blink and it will all be gone.
Or it could be, just could be, that I was born with an old, old soul.
Maybe you, my friends, can help me find an answer.
Location: the streets of Valletta, April 2014
Hello Loree,
ReplyDeleteThese words complement the pictures so perfectly. The bitter sweet nostalgia of times and loves lost and found, new and old, decay and rebirth.
It is so important, we feel, to stay in touch with one's inner soul, to appreciate the past whilst also looking to the future with all the hope and promise of new adventures and discoveries to be made. For without a connection to all that has gone before, one becomes rootless and relationships can become trivialised into just the here and now.
We have never been to Malta and so have not walked these streets of Valletta. How we wish to.......
Streets, doors, windows, rusty hinges all have souls that sing to us...stay, sit down and sing to me.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very nice post ! I noticed that now that I am a vintage lady, I start to dig out old stories from my childhood and youth, which I had completely forgotten during all these years of work and family life. Now I regret that I didn't ask more about my paternal grandfather and family and more about my grandma. I think it comes with the age that suddenly you think of the generations who lived before you .
ReplyDeleteYou are stepping into who you really are.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Suze said it perfectly. It is true. Please keep going forward...
Deletexo
H
What a gorgeous post, Loree. These are heady words and equally heady images.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right to say that these colors, doors and signs will pass away. It is inevitable when people push for new, they seem to forget what was behind them that got them there in the first place. Fortunately there is someone like you who cares enough to historically document your discoveries for future generations to see when it all has faded away. Great post. I always love discovering new things in Valletta!
ReplyDeleteGosh, I hope we do not wipe it all away.........its BEAUTIFUL.............us old souls must stick together!KEEP PHOTOGRAPHING!!!
ReplyDeleteI love when you do things like this Loree...bring us along, wanting and waiting. Your photographs play along with each word. I loved it! Old souls? Nothing better.. ;) xx
ReplyDeleteNice photographs of old abandoned maltese shops There's something that's curiously fascinating in these locations. Well done Loree!
ReplyDeleteAh Loree - I understand how you feel because I too have a love for what is passing and hope it will not be forgotten. Lovely words and lovely images. Have a wonderful day.
ReplyDeleteOh the charm of these old beauties are so very appropriate with the lyric..These will disappear some time in the future, but you have recorded them here forever..I really hope that some renovation acts will take place to reserve them though..It is such a lost of history!
ReplyDeleteA stunning and evocative post Loree! You're an old soul for sure!
ReplyDeleteI am melting into your words and your images in this post (or better still, as always!) I hope that one day I get to see Malta the way you do through your camera lense xx
ReplyDeleteI must say that I was transported just listening to the clip from Melody Gardot while I browsed your words and photos.
ReplyDeleteLovely. I'll be back...