Photographic Memory

Faces in the trash
Bag ripped open
Torn by the wind, floating on the
Sidewalk. Smiling, fresh faces covered by
Pieces of ripped diaper. Potato peel
Dog shit

There was a time when it wasn’t like this
When our faces were flush with wisdom and whiskey
We knew all and everyone
Met strangers we have always loved
Built virgin mountains then deflowered them

How will you remember?
When ragged remnants of lost time are scattered by the storm
And that once familiar, blurry flurry of faces is trampled
Underfoot?

We were snapped in mid-slaphappy!
Glassy eyes reflecting instamatic power
Two foreheads touching
Too natural grins
Time and temptation a brimming bottle in our hands

I have invented a story for you
A history of times and dreams I never knew
I gave you a place
You see…
I can’t stand to see you drifting there
Cemented on oil stained streams
Letting the current upend you, rudderless and
Alone

Perilous, giddy weightlessness
The ice in our drinks scorched our fingers
As our hands reached out to hold the light
Before the burning in our lungs cooled
Before the hot moon set…

But the sleet came
You packed hope in plastic and used Kleenex
Paper grins
Glossy moments splattered with ketchup
Wrapped in dead leaves

I can’t dig through the pile
I can’t keep the sheets from rotting, the edges pealing

We’ll be found in a homeless man’s
Cart, part of a stranger’s song
To be remembered for who we weren’t
Let others wipe the sweat of memory from your brow

Photographic Memory

Photo Manipulation RRB