Memories lurk like dustballs in the backs of drawers. The stereo is a special model that plays only music fraught with poignant associations.
Why was he in this state? Or perhaps the question was why had he not always been in this state? Why had he not always found life so disturbing and so poignant?
(n.) The quality or state of being poignant; as, the poignancy of satire; the poignancy of grief.