i used to hate having
     my photo taken

to see every flaw and imperfection on display.

i used to hate
    the photos taken

the ones you glued into our scrapbook.

but now?
i love the photos given

& what they do to me.

for before
it felt like memories stolen

a painful reminder of
love
lost

today?
it reminds me of memories given
all the love we gave

it's scrapbooked in my memory
and brings a smile to my brain

so thank you for the photos taken
as they no longer bring me any pain.

I bought a Leica camera
someone said
it must take really great pictures
I sat and watched it
for over an hour
it never left my bag

Photographs tell our story
About good times and days of glory
Of relationships that didn't last
They're like a time machine to our past

They're the memories of places we've been
And gives us a chance to visit them again
They'll show our kids who haven't a clue
That we were young once too

Write down everything
you hate about them and burn
it with the photos

11:37 AM
24/12/20

Pope John Paul II
maybe
Johnny P the Deuce
(to his friends)
empassions an Easter sermon
years before the Passion
or millennia after
to Jane Fonda
feathered red and nicotine stained
watching the city burn
one
station wagon
at
a
time

Let’s take a ride
With photos as our guide

Not that they are enough
But they bring out all the stuff

Those collection of instances
Those endearing reminiscences

Each picture tells a tale
Dragging us on its trail

More than anything else
It subjects your inner self

You contemplate with a new perspective
And gradually become introspective

Those memories caress you
When you are lost and feeling blue

The journey ends up to meet yourself
Getting the push to move forward oneself.