A Bygone Era Poem by Sandra Martyres
A Bygone Era
I look back on the days
When children attended school
For an all round education
When bankers were respected people
Who accepted deposits and extended loans
When cricketers were considered gentlemen
Who played the game sportingly
To extol their batting style and bowling accuracy
When music was played on a gramophone
Or listened to from a radio station
When all it took to bring a smile on a child’s face
Was a visit to an ice-cream parlour to
Taste the latest Sundae on the menu
Today, I look back at the past
With a sense of nostalgia and
Perhaps with a little bit of regret too
But we have to live in the present
We have to transform ourselves
Or risk being treated
As fossils or relics of the past
So I try very hard not to bat an eyelid
When I see children wasting their spare time
On their play stations instead of
Reading a book or enjoying outdoor games
When the Twenty/ Twenty cricket team easily
Sets aside the image of the Gentleman’s game
By playing instead for power and endorsements
When reading novels is considered passé and libraries
Have no takers – they wear a deserted look
When education simply means getting ninety percent
By attending coaching classes who guarantee
The desired percentage for a handsome fee
But I do find it difficult not to squirm at the new role
That the once respected bankers play
Financial intermediation they call it which means
Matching borrowers and investors,
Structuring exotics creating tailor made products
For the so-called financially sophisticated……..
It was all this unfettered exuberance that
Led to the sub-prime fiasco, forcing
Governments into overdrive mode to
Recapitalise unviable banks and take drastic steps
To put the economies back on track
Amidst at all this chaos and confusion
I long to go back in time to the bygone era.
A thought provoking poem. Each and every bit of this one is great. Reminding us of our own childhood, that nostalgia, vis a vis today's ruin.........Very good.
My wife and I are of that age that we can look back on a lot more things than others can, and we share many of the same opinions and regrets as you express so extensively. We do have the advantage of those younger than we are. We can continue to do a lot of things we had been doing all along and adopt what new things we want that are now here. It may be harder to do some of these though now.
Very well written Sandra my friend....Life has many changes in store for us all....But alot of our time is wasted on the things that simply aren't important...it seems many of us...are missing the bigger picture....but through these changes that will come....we will have no choice but to learn from them....the first - life's too short...for repeating history..............brilliant penning as usual my lovely 10++
An extremely intelligent poem with observations of the present and the past. Like you, Sandra, I do not wish to be included as a fossil or relic of the past so try and keep an open mind. There will always be a generation gap, but because of advanced technology ours is far wider I would say than previous generations. You are so right about this generation giving so much time to computer games and some children are even becoming obese because of it. I also appreciate your economic qualifications and concur with your views about the economy. An excellent and compelling poem! 10 love Karin
Sandra, A well crafted and thought provoking poem. I have often wondered why, even though we keep adapting ourselves to modern technology, - as we grow old, we keep getting attached to our black & white nostalgic memories? ! After all it is our past which has brought us here as I live through this real time present moment and write these comments! For your poem 10 + -Raj
This is a very impressive poem on our current civilization and society, Sandra, and one that written very well besides. You cited many things from our past, as well has pointed out a good number of the ills of our current society. For a long poem, this one held the reader's interest from beginning to end, a terrific job by the writer! Carl.
A wistful cry for an era that now exists only in books and memories. Beautiful.
The past has its own sweetness...and the present, the craze...you couldn't have even dreamt of writing poems electronically in your younger days...that is life...the stream carries you forward...good work...well thought out theme...thanks...10
WE can always look back then, Sandra, and also look forward.As the saying goes, , We can only pass this way but once.. This is an excellent write..thanks for giving me a ride to the bygone era. Take care and God bless Hugs, meggie
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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12/5/2025 3:49:41 PM # 1.0.0
great write Sandra....we can always look back but we can never go back (alas!) ... everything goes forward...and there's no stopping the ball.....