Sometimes
By Thomas S. Jones, Jr.
Across the fields of yesterday
He sometimes comes to me,
A little lad just back from play–
The lad I used to be.
And yet he smiles so wistfully
Once he has crept within,
I wonder if he hopes to see
The man I might have been.
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
This touched my heart. Thank you so much for posting.
Thanks…
This poem is an excellent use of simplicity–evocative and powerful without being verbose or convoluted. Thank you for sharing.
As I am still young, this makes me think of the man I am making myself into right now. So simple and yet these words have sparked a shower of thoughts in me. I am reminded of the man I always thought I could be as a child, and I don’t want to dissapoint myself. There is a stardard to which I, and I am sure most of us, held my future grown and manly self to. It is so easy to forget and just live life in the bustle of things. I do not wish to live my life when some day I could look back and see the man I could have been. I want part of my inner child never to leave, to always just come back from play with an inquisitive gleam in my eye knowing that I can and will challenge myself to be more.
Thanks. Wonderfully simple.
Our lives don’t always turn out like we think they will when we were young. But, we can still strive to be the men(and women) that we wanted to be.
Don’t be seduced by achievement lest you succumb to the narcotic of self-pity. Just live free, work hard and be a man of principal. Those things are within your control, much else is not.
Nice. Great way to simply, yet effectively put into words, those reflective times we have.
Just to clarify, my take on this is that the persona is disappointed that he hasn’t lived up to his childhood vision of himself as a man. Did anyone else have a different impression?
Fitting way to start my day considering I just found out we’re having a boy!
I agree with Peter Lilley. It seems like the author is disappointed in himself for not fulfilling his expectations.
I take it to mean that he recognizes that he hasn’t yet lived up to his ideal for himself, but instead of giving in to “the way it is,” his youthful, hopeful side keeps him working at it.
This reminds me of one of the core ideas in Plato’s Republic, that really the worst thing for a man would be to achieve his goals completely. Then, there would be nothing to work for, no animating activity. We need as-yet unaccomplished goals to order our lives around. The lesson is don’t despair at what you’re not. Rather, work toward what you can be.
Spot on, Jacob
I think that what he saying is that the boy he had been doesn’t care what he is, or what he could have lived up to being. He’s “just back from play” carefree and young. Not a thought of the future is weighing on his mind. Smiling “wistfully,” the boy is living in the moment of his happiness. He only wonders if the boy hopes to see who he might have been. There is no critique from the boy, but the man wonders if he is living up to his own expectations. Expectations that may well not even have been there.
I watched “The Straight Story” this weekend, which is a quirky David Lynch movie about an old guy driving his lawn mower across Iowa to see his ailing brother. One of several poignant lines, after being asked by a young man, what’s the hardest part about being old. He responds, “Remembering that you were young”. I think he was talking about regret, and the movie elaborates on the comment. I’m only in my 50s, and the remark was poignant to me.
I don’t read into this what some have, that the author is somehow disillusioned with himself. I think the author presents a very open and intimate question…who is that man I might have been? and how does that man measure up to what I am now and what I yearned to be as a little lad. The answer could go either way, or, it could go both ways. Perhaps the author has been very successful, overcome many obstacles against all odds…so he wonders if the child in his innocent joy of the moment ever hopes to see the failed man he might have been. Perhaps it’s the opposite – the man has been a failure but could have been great. Most likely, it’s a combination of both. Most of us have had successes and accomplishments that we are proud of, perhaps some that we never thought we could accomplish. Similarly, most of us have had failures and shortcomings, perhaps missed opportunities, or made life-changing decisions about which we wonder what the outcome would have been if we had chosen differently. Most things in life are a trade-off, nothing is perfect. This simple but powerful poem simply evokes such introspection without giving it a value judgment up front – that value judgment is for each of us to make about ourselves.
wow. I wrestle with a lot of these feelings now that I am forty-something. The comments here helped. Thanks guys….
For the similar theme, watch “The Kid” movie with Bruce Willis. Thought provoking and funny.
I’m with Andre. I didn’t take it to mean that he is disappointed, but more that once the boy “comes within” “smiling wistfully” the author wonders why the boy smiles.
Does the boy smile because he understands that the author became a different man due to the obligations and obstacles he overcame in life?
Does the boy smile because that stage of life was happy and simple and the boy represents that stage to the author?
Does the boy smile because he approves knowing that the author is a good man, regardless of how he differs now from the “man he might have been”? That the path wouldn’t have mattered because the destination is ultimately good.
Reminds me of the lines from the show, “The King and I” where little Louie asks his mother about the dying king, “Mother, was the king as good of a king as he could have been?” She answers, “No man is as good a king as he could have been, but this one tried.” I’m still trying.
This is a poem written by Blanche Barrow of Bonnie and Clyde fame. Re-written to a male subject. Still good though.