I want to see some old photographs:
older than those on the computer;
Back when moments were precious,
unveil the shrouded busts,
and see the face of my friend
as he was then;
The best of us disappear
into the fields at dusk,
leaving behind memories for us
of colours and of songs.
Tonight, I will
walk by the bund, and onward
to the land beyond the horizon
where they sparkle at night as stars
our friends here, who have
gone to the far beyond.
I am peace. I wave over
every dawn by your shores.
I sing with the grilles and die
unsung like the evening.
I exist. Sometimes
only as a photograph, frozen
in my smile. Sometimes,
smoking my pipe of joy
fiddling by your side; Some
times, I am a memory
enshrined in your heart.
A family friend died recently: very young, cancer. And someone shared a photograph from 2 decades ago - these are my reflections on the poignant moment captured in lens then...