Years have sliced me
Into little squares.
Flat, shiny jewels
So exact and so still
Quaint, noiseless frames
Captured and hoarded
To fill my book.
It is a known fact
That people have traded everything
For just about anything
But I have never known anyone
Give up photos for something else.
Life in a capsule
Some bitter, some limited
Others contained and coated
With saccharine smiles.
It really depends on
How one wants to be remembered.
They say there comes a time
When one questions and despairs,
Like asking a prestidigitator
To pull out a rabbit from a hat
Or to agitate ancient moss at the bottom
Of a pond. Anything.
When I, a lover of words
Could never make heads nor tails
Out of rhymes
That used to give me chills.
Baby pictures seem to be a favorite.
The first smile, the teeth nonexistent and guilt free.
The wedding picture, execution style.
A façade, bricked off by the layer of lies
We try so hard to believe.
We bleach everything
From pillows to blankets,
Repair the damage good as new
Iron the edges (take no hostages!)
There’s nothing we can’t do
To make everything perfect in a photo.
After all, it’s just about lighting.
At night I’d flip
Through my treasure
Eyes growing sharper
Memory growing dim
The sharp edges cutting my finger
Until it bleeds.
Shared with Real Toads. Hello poets!
Photographs definitely do have value and are so nice to 'flip through' at times. There is something special about holding a REAL photograph in one's hands. This seems to becoming a thing of the past in a digital age. I wonder if we will regret that some time MUCH later on in our lives.
ReplyDeleteYes, Mary. Just like holding a book in your hands... It's a little sad . for the younger they don't seem to mind a bit.
DeleteThe saying is, "A picture is worth a thousand words."
ReplyDeleteOld ones bring memories, new ones prolong precious moments, others refresh, all directing our thoughts.
..
Hi, Jim.
DeletePictures are the most precious things we keep.They're like memories we keep in our pockets.:)
"But I have never known anyone
ReplyDeleteGive up photos for something else."
Very true!
My mum had an old handbag in which she kept all of her 'treasures'
ReplyDeleteIt was full of photographs of all of us and little square cards of each baby born that they gave you in hospital with sex/weight/time of birth etc etc. She had see through white lace gloves which belonged to her mother. Locks of hair in envelopes. Old theater ticket stubs. And, I was lucky enough to have it when she passed away. The photographs are memories.
This poem is so good for its imagery and its truths. The youth will never understand what it feels like to hold real photographs in their hands before much longer.
Wow... I love "saccharine smiles"...
ReplyDelete"The first smile, the teeth nonexistent and guilt free.
ReplyDeleteThe wedding picture, execution style.
A façade, bricked off by the layer of lies
We try so hard to believe."
2 of the many slices the narrator is sliced into, now that she remembers only through them and her bleeding fingers. The first, second, and last stanza's are clearest to me in the progression, bu the other two contain moments that I want to kinow--probably as much or more as she!
Photos--I call them pictures--can certainly be a refuge in a sea of uncertainly.
ReplyDeleteThere are some stunning lines in this poem.
I especially was moved by the description of babies: "teeth nonexistent and guilt free".
"after all it's just about lighting" How we do try to bleach and perfect an image to often hide the blemishes of life lived outside the photograph. This is an amazing piece!
ReplyDeleteWe bleach everything...
ReplyDeleteAt night I’d flip
Through my treasure
Eyes growing sharper
Memory growing dim
Oh, what a nice spin this is on the nostalgia of photo albums - life ordered and polished the way we want to see it!
I love the way you have written this :D You have written some awesome stuff on this space :D
ReplyDeleteSometimes we need to put down the camera and enjoy the moment instead of capture it, however, some of the photos I have are very treasured and can take me back to times when my heart was so happy. Great writing, I loved this.
ReplyDeleteWOW! This is a spectacular write! The closing lines especially. Whew!
ReplyDelete