Memories And Photos

Someday I will fade
Just like a photograph in one of those books you keep:
A distorted memory; there but forgotten.

Memories and photos look at me from a stack of old books
Brought to visit by a new and dear friend
Who provides things needed that I dare
Not ask directly for
Like Vitamin D and new surgical scrub pants
Which I quickly make old
In a hot and busy kitchen
Where I give my daily pound of flesh
And pints
Of blood sweat and tears.

Someday I will fade
Just like a photograph in one of those books you keep:
A distorted memory; there but forgotten.

I imagine old Browning and Kodak Cameras
Set in wide dirt streets,
And stuffy portrait studios
Where the men and ladies
In Sunday finery sit still
And uncomfortable
As a man
With his head under a cloth
Slowly counts the seconds
And minutes
Of picture perfection.

Someday I will fade
Just like a photograph in one of those books you keep:
A distorted memory; there but forgotten.

The old dirt roads
And dusty streets
Are horse-hoof pounded
And wagon wheel
Pounded into my imagination
And somewhere in a distant memory
A few words from Pete McKenna
Try to wander to
The forefront of my mind,
But the truth be known,
I was a poor student
So I don’t remember
Streets and dates
From 8th grade history.

Someday I will fade
Just like a photograph in one of those books you keep:
A distorted memory; there but forgotten.

I try to focus
Like that old photographer
Holding up a pan
Of flash powder
Ready to capture your magic
In one beautiful portrait,
But I am only left
With blurry slides
And images
That keep slipping away
Like the ice
In the corner of a
Sun warmed puddle
Or the tears
Slowly drying…

Someday I will fade
Just like a photograph in one of those books you keep:
A distorted memory; there but forgotten.