Breathless

When the past comes back to life in a single moment

Have you ever had a strange sense of deja-vu somewhere — only to then place exactly why?

This happened to me this past summer in Sardinia — a precise, specific moment that’s stayed with me. In the months since, I’ve been trying to capture it in verse, to work out exactly what was going on for me in that moment.

I hope this poem resonates for you — and maybe let me know, in comments below, if you’ve had a similar sensation of the past coming back to life in the present, and how you dealt with it?

Enjoy,

Image: AI-generated, via StockCake

The Boat Trip

It was a June afternoon, midsummer, in a foreign land
I found myself on a hired boat, speeding across
Azure waters, laughing at the luxury, the fun
As the sea air shot past, hair swept back, breathlessly 
Present

Until
An island came past, with an ancient fortress dug into its shore
That momentarily stopped all rush, and sense of speed.
Suddenly time collapsed; I took a breath and wondered -   
Hadn’t I been there and stood on that same sand 
Before?

When
I caught it. There - then - with wife, son and son to be,
Visiting that fortress twenty or more years ago - a hot summer then too, 
We’d taken the ferry over and watched my eldest muck around
Oblivious then to what I’m feeling now - sadness, maybe guilt, in 
Being

Back
Here now with a new love, unmarried and without those sons
Here, on the fast boat, enjoying the high wind and sensations of 
Speed, adrenaline, power… And wondering - is this allowed? 
This sense of joy, of present letting go, as the image of that
Fort

Took
Me back, later, in calmer waters, to acknowledge the choices made
In the years since, to get go of all that, to move on with life
As the boat docked, all sense of speed gone, we shook off the sand 
And walked up the beach, drying off, hand in hand, back in the
Here 

And
Knowing that what was then, was then, more alive in this moment
Committing to now, as the pine trees and bougainvillea 
Embraced us, looking out across the sand and sea
To enfold us into a larger sense of allowing - to offer up 
Peace.


31st July 2026