Photographs

Years go by in random order
Scenes switch with a flick of the wrist -
Was I really that young ?
That happy ?
Were they ?
Photos glamorize the past,
Smiles that only last
Until the click is heard,
Caught for the glossy paper,
And held
To confuse the future;
Censors of turmoil and pain,
As fearful eyes gleam and mouths curl,
Revealing teeth, like pearls, between -
Posing -
Photos are hypocritical -
They feed the myth,
Distort what's real,
They tell their story - a fairytale,
Of youth, hope and glory,
This second caught for posterity -
It rises -
Clear,
Drowning the years,
Which sink to the bottom of the pool of tears.
Deception lures -
You long to believe,
To quiet, quiet the restless soul -
For this…photographs serve well,
Where the senses fail,
Where the heart reveals,
What we felt, back then, was best concealed -
A testament to hope, they stand -
And to the will,
Which strives to conquer still,
By looking back at photographs,
That smile......smile.......smile..........