MEMORIES OF PONTEFRACT THAT NEVER FADE

OLD FRIENDS

by KATHLEEN STRINGER FAIRBURN

I sit in the town centre, on a wooden seat

Looking for familiar faces of old friends I’d like to meet

Hoping recognition will dawn in a stranger’s eye

But after over thirty years can I wonder why?

No one seems to know me or even glance my way?

(Perhaps we don’t recognise each other, now we are getting old and grey?)

Have I let too many years go by since I went away?

Even now my time is short, and alas I cannot stay

Am I staring too intently to make that person frown?

(Not a glint of recognition as she looks me up and down)

"Look at me and remember" is my silent plea

"Let us, old friends, meet again and perhaps share a pot of tea?"

I’d like to become re-acquainted with dear friends I left behind

Teen and childhood memories forge precious bonds that bind

Nostalgia seems to deepen with the passage of the years

> And memories of life in Pontefract is something time endears

I’m home with my family now – in Australia once again

But already planning my next trip to the town from whence I came

In the year 2007 I’ll be back for a month or two

Perhaps my luck will be in this time and I’ll meet up with you?

Kathleen Stringer Fairburn