Sunday, March 6, 2011

Misty Memory




MISTY MEMORY

And that is how I remember them, the people from my past;
I expected crisp, bright images that would last and last and last.
There's Grandpa. I really adored him, but except for a photograph
I truly remember just curly hair, a round face and a belly-laugh.
There's Jo, a great friend of my youth, I expected to have recall,
But I just remember her on a bus..... that's absolutely all.
My children as babies? Surely I'd remember each smile and tear!
But no! They're just a vague chubbiness from a very distant year.
How we rely on photographs! Without them we'd be lost,
They'd be like flowers of summertime killed by a winter frost.
In the days before technology, in the days before the 'click',
And even before the first artists learned the portrait trick,
How the bereaved must have wrestled with this absence of recall!
They'd be looking for a memory and finding nothing at all.
*

10 comments:

Gloria said...

Wow, this is so true! My mother died when I was only five and the only memories I have of her are linked to photographs. Well done!

Shail Raghuvanshi said...

Lovely Brenda. Memories are what make us or break us.....

Unknown said...

Brenda,
Your memories are lovely. Must be heartwarming.

Jingle said...

thanks for the back up story, life makes one stronger and smarter..

awesome entry.

Kathe W. said...

images do fade after years have gone by.....

Jingle said...

lovely piece.

Thanks for linking.

Anonymous said...

This is so true especially for me since I am not a visual person

Anonymous said...

'They'd be like flowers of summertime killed by a winter frost..' - what a memorable line. i agree with you, photos are what helps us to keep memory alive. but sometimes they can hurt very much, too.

James Rainsford said...

Very well expressed and brilliantly rhymed.

jay said...

You know what,this is so true!Ever heard how some people claim to remember the shape of your chin,the exact shade of the skin, the expression in your eyes,etc? Well,I've always believed them to be pathetic liars.Because,without a photograph,all that we remember are vague outlines of things and people.You poem speaks volumes.Very profound.We have indeed begun to rely on the modern technology way too much