Traces of Absence
by Odin Roark

The photograph,
Sepia enhanced memories,
A father in bib overalls,
A mother with flowered house dress,
Peace and poverty,
All as one,
One as all.

How voracious a picture lives,
Sympathetic to no one,
Aggressively accountable to only itself.
Alive
And well.

This pin prick of the past.
This 3 X 5 picture reminder
Knows presence is but its dependent,
The past forever its legacy.

So…

Hold your portraits real.
Watch them grow and transcend
From their original developer tray
To fixer
To frame
To inevitable fade.

And even though

Photographs may lose their luster,
Their original images remains,
If in nothing else, archived in the heart’s scrapbook,
Free of outside erosion.

Yet,,,

Some would argue
We have evolved into an eternal “cloud” era
Where 3D or holographic archiving will represent our mortality.
Because it’s cool.
It’s in.

Meanwhile…

What’s been left in drawers, pasted in photo albums, attic storage?