dVerse Poets – Open Link Night
Lillian at dVerse is hosting Open Link Night which means an opportunity to post a poem of your choice.
Photo: Better Homes and Gardens, January 1951
“You can get the man out of the stone -age, but not the stone-age out of the man.” Abhijit Naskar
Veneer
The old panels were tired
and out of place,
relics of the forties and fifties,
so we settled on a transformation,
new ideas, life, and colours,
it was simple really
but so effective,
though lately I’ve noticed
that the laminates are lifting
in some places and the
bakelite’s showing through,
seems that all the transformations
were just that,
insubstantial veneers,
and the laminates are surrendering,
giving way to the old once more.
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul, pvcann.com
parallax 
I’m loving that kitchen with the red touches.
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Yes, it draws me too, but not the values 🙂
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I like your description of transformations as insubstantial veneers.
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So thin, and I wonder what it all meant.
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I have heard that same saying, but Brooklyn was used in place of stone-age.
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Yes, here it’s used in the sense of farm, or rural.
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Yes, the core remains…the layers come and go. So true of our lives, I feel.
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Some of it sadly so, some not. I wonder that the progressive agenda I threw myself into was too thin in the end.
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Thought provoking.
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Thank you, I had hoped to achieve that so thrilled for your feedback.
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Changing what is within is the true transformation.
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Yes, though sadly so few in terms of what I had hoped. Thank you so much Ken.
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so many look at outside appearance and then get bored after a time
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They do, and it ends badly. Thank you Gina
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Clever write.
New things lose their gloss after time…
Anna :o]
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Yes they sure do, thank you Anna.
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Veneer indeed… The Stone age creeping back out? 🙂
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Everywhere it seems except NZ, Iceland, Finland
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I hear NZ is pretty good on that respect. But 3 countries only out of 200+ in the UN? A bit short, ain’t it?
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Yes, lousy odds, a lot of scratchings before the race.
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I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Seems all around me the veneers of my country are peeling…I had really assumed the changes were truly changes of heart, and I keep trying to figure out exactly why and when things started to fall apart.
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Me too, it’s not as simple as it seems to me
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First of all, I love the approach open link followed by your eloquent composition. 💕☕️☕️
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Yes, open is good, thank you for that.
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Yes it is. The approach brings an open-mic to mind.💕☕️☕️
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A good image to hold, freedom to speak. 🙂
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Yes indeed.
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Excellent poem, Paul. I really like it.
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Thank you very much indeed.
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Very clever, Paul.
I love it.
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I think we’re regressing in the west Rupali, It is not a mystery but it is still yet a surprise none-the-less.
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Yes – our homes and our selves- constantly calling for renovations.
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That’s it in a nutshell, we are too quick to adopt, but yet not truly adapting. I’m aghast at the roll back of so many achievements of the past five decades.
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At least there is progress. Imagine if there were not.
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Can’t begin to imagine that scenario.
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Another trenchant metaphor for the unsettled times in which we live! As a veteran of the home renovation wars, it particularly resonated with me. (Those metal kitchen cabinets must have seemed like a good idea at the time to someone, but they weren’t.)
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They were ghastly, just like some of the values of the time. Thank you so much Liz for reflecting back on this.
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This is spectacular! I was first stopped dead in my tracks…looking carefully at the illustration you chose. I REMEMBER that type of stool, my mother wearing an apron, etc.
THEN I saw the title and I wondered how you were going to connect it.
OH and then I read and connected! Yup — many have replaced those cabinets; “up dated” kitchens, refinished furniture, stripped away the linoleum and put down new floors, etc…..only to find that it’s much harder to strip away a cultural bias, etc….and it is all just like laminate that is now slipping from the surface and peeling. I could even equate this to the political scene that is now playing itself out….etc.
Just a great write that applies to so much!
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You nailed it Lillian, yes the double meaning in metaphor. I have been so disappointed in the rolling back of so many positive gains of the past five decades, and the veneer that we seem to have adopted for so long wearing thin and peeling. Thank you so much for your insights and so glad this connected for you.
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ouch a sad reflection of too many lives …
personally and politically we wear the mask
which will eventually slip not up to the task
words are meaningless
when no action follows …
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Yes, words are meaningless
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just lots of hot air as they do exactly as they wish which seldom ever correlates with their pledges …
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Yes, the lack of integrity is blatant
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Oh Paul, this works for me on so many levels (pun not really intended) 😉
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Even so, the non-pun works well. I’m so glad the levels appeared, thank you for sharing that Chris. 🙂
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What a wonderful poem, meeting the quote too. Reading it came in my mind, whats here called “the good old time”, but with a missed definition. Michael
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Ah yes, the good old days – that never actually happened as I see it.
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😉
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Wow, a really good depiction of how every progression can sometimes become stale, and thus we have to start over to find a new transformation to admire.
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Thank you, yes I was hoping that would be clear and you have drawn that out.
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I love this. You’ve got a nice blog, and I’m glad to follow you. 🤗
It’s an honor to be here 🙇 . I hope I can make good friends with you💐
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Thank you
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You are welcome 😊
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Very thought provoking
>
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Yes, that cul de sac we’ve ended up in, jettisoning the 60s 70s progress.
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