T onight
careful hands
peel back cracked
and yellowed protectant
from dark and aging pages
of long-ignored
dusty albums
compelled in the moment
my wife is liberating memories
of other life moments
immortalized
faces and places
call from another time
a beautiful young bride
a proud new husband
our sweet children
living
and not
family and friends
here and gone
other visuals
strangely vague
yet hauntingly familiar
draw us in
spark warm recall
remembered laughter
and tears
gratefully of joy
captured images
unfold on our coffee table
like a cornucopia of time
insistent emotions
cascading one by one
and all together
time
the grand thief
thwarted by lens and film
time
who would steal
the treasures of our heart
time
who would conceal
cruely holding hostage
the moments of our journey
that unrelenting thief
is now at our door
once more
threatening to steal
what precious time
we have left
deeply moved
by our situation
we embrace
silently
deeply
tears well and glisten
stirred by heartfelt gratitude
for this proof of life before us
this proof of love
tears also of hope
for more
*
rob kistner © 2023
Poetry at: dVerse
A beautiful and sad poem, Rob. Those photos are precious memories.
I like this line…
insistent emotions
cascading one by one
and all together
I was feeling melancholy today… a feeling I strangely find comforting?
That’s lovely. I forgot that yellow is the colour of old paper and faded photographs. Very tender, Rob.
Thank you sara. Just a true moment for Kath and I. Her final (hopefully) and most complicated cancer robotic operatiom occurs next week — so we were feeling mutually fragile over Easter.
This is such a moving poem, Rob. Photo albums bring back memories more effectively than photos on a phone or laptop. I like the ‘cracked and yellowed protectant’ and ‘dark and aging pages of long-ignored dusty albums’. Sadly, we didn’t have a wedding album, but I have a few of my daughter and grandson. My favourite lines:
‘time
the grand thief
thwarted by lens and film’.
Thank you Kim… 🙂
Sending every ounce of healing energy within my power to your Kathy. Naturally .. I was in tears after finishing this poem. Amazing, Rob .. amazing.
Thank you Helen! Inside I am swinging between fear, hope, anger, doubt, confusion, helplessness — I am a fucking mess emotionally at times… but I don’t ever show that to Kathy. We quietly shared some tears a couple times, but never once any despair. Thankfully, Kathy seems solidly confident. Confidence is the mask I cling to fiercely in the midst of this. We will beat it. This I know for certain, when my private moments of weakness pass.
<3 and {{{HUGS}}} to you and Kathy
Thank you Lisa… 🙂
I love how you used the concept of yellow for those old memories of fading photos… then the poem was a bit blue.
Well, yrllow and blue makes green, and that is a color of life.
Oh my heart this is so poignant, Rob! Those photo albums indeed bring back so many memories .. here’s hoping there are many more to come and cherish.
I am pleased this touched you Sanaa, and thank you… 🙂
So very moving, Rob. Yes the yellow paper and photos.
(Our modern paper gets yellow and cracked faster than very old paper that had a higher rag content.)
Thinking of you and Kathy, and hoping all gets well with the surgery. <3
Thank you Merril. Next week we find out. Mymind is mashed potatoes worrying, but I don’t show Kathy.
Beautiful.
🙂
Rob, oh how I know those feelings while looking through old photo albums. You captured the feelings in your poem so well. One of my favorites poems of yours to date.
Thank you Lisa, very much. This one flowed forth freely… 😐