Just thought about the date...today would have been by folks 65th anniversary. |
Prompt for: February 7, 2013 Subject or Theme: Black & White (rummaging through old black & white photos of whatever...) Word(s) to Include: (describe the emotions this brings ~ whatever it is) Forbidden Word(s): happy, happiness, memory(ies), remember(ed), sad, sadness Additional Parameters: Emotions can lead to a memory or a thought ~ take it where it leads you. The Best Present The final Christmas present this year: a box I thought forever lost in one of our many movesâ found in my eldest daughterâs basement, wrapped and given with a box of tissues. I joked that a present wouldnât make me cry. She handed me the past and I blubbered like a child. Cursory leaf through, thrilled to have them, but I wasnât ready: until tonight. Five albums of black and white photosâ Five generations: some long gone; yet still, alive. Dadâs been gone almost twenty-four years, Momâalmost ten: Tonight we sat together on the couch. I could hear dadâs laughter, hear him call momâs name. See my mother pointing to different pictures: Heard the stories once again, like it was yesterday So different now, yet still the same. Black and white captured moments. Life frees the colors to emerge in my mind. Mental videos play surrounding movement Like holographs playing out in the living room. Called my daughter, she âgotâ it; understood. âGo write your poem, Mom. Youâre working on a deadline.â Maybe more, tonight, of a lifeline. Tears dry as I write. I can smile now, feel strangely light. Thereâd been no funerals: as per request. I think tonight I could finally let go enough to understand They never really went anywhere at all. |