photo-shopped engravings

 

photo-shopped engravings

 

 

looping in love struck circles

odd heart shapes

knowing glances with girls i knew before

 

dancing in the head of my 1971 flares

your eyes glistening under your red dyed locks

you saying you needed to walk up town to pick up pictures

in the morning,

asking if anyone wanted to join you,

knowing i was the only one available

 

what shape now?

as i laughed and gave in to the prospect---

that walk became a photo of us

stages of dye

becoming a non-virgin of circumstance

 

holding you in unreal dreams

we sank into each other like blissful quicksand

 

letting go of the branches that could have kept us afloat

the sanctuary of each other's arms

became college dreams

then shattered degrees

of animosity

 

i could always claim

"i knew you when" like Billy Joe Royal crooned

years before we knew that he was talking about us

 

but i didn't know you now,

the dye had faded, the black streak down the middle

of your truths

shown too encrypted

like the you that got buried in the you

you became...

 

and this many years later,

the memories flare like the old jeans

 

and those photos that were our excuse then

never even made it to an album of afterthought---

 

goodbye to you then,

and now---

 

blurred pictures don't smile back

the way they were once imagined

to.

 

 

erin-cilberto

1/13/17

Reviews

[Rosalind Gale]

Much to enjoy here - a somewhat sprawling yet succinct poem. Memories of the way we were. Thank you -
-x-

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i like your kind, diplomatic comment..."a somewhat sprawling yet succinct poem"--- i am such a proponent of "less is more" yet lately i have been writing poems that are more like 600 page novels..that's just what is coming lately.

[Papaya]

Everything fades and when we look back on the brightest times we can see that they were not always as perfect as they seemed, but they were good for the moment. Nothing stays the same, nothing lasts. This is really good, if a bit sad and depressing...

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review, Ana...

j.

[AYVID N]

Such a beautiful and poetic depiction of the path most love stories take, spiralling downward to a bitter lake of regrets, afterthoughts and photoshopped memories. Brilliant in a word.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review, DIVYA...

j.

[Einstein Noodle]

love it ...takes me up and down and uncertain throughout .. just like those walks ..have to mention:
"becoming a non-virgin of circumstance" is such a great line in my mind
your poem hearkens to a more blissful and innocent time; tho perhaps the coming generations will think the same of their's ..we wore the bell and elephant bells as flags didn't we!? :) what a journey taken and then i see me gently closing that old photo album ... the past drifting off of its own accord now i have said a genuine goodbye .. and thank you ..nice one sir!
E.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

my elephant bells were my favorites..yes...thank you for your words, E.
i do wonder about what you said..will the coming generations have reason to feel the same as we about the past?
we shall see, we shall see.

j.

[Einstein Noodle]

yes .. i think one can honestly say these are darker times; but perhaps it is just that bad news has developed lightning speed and global recognition .. its as you say.... we shall see ... top o' the mahrnin' to ya sir! :)

[Dhaye]

There is magic in Photoshop, where faded ones could look new...but it won't do magic to what's inside the heart.

But this is really sad, sir.
Most powerful to me are these lines:
"Holding you in unreal dreams
we sank into each other like blissful quicksand"

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review, Dhaye..

j.

[Tony Jordan]

Wow that title Jacob !
It evokes much. The engraving lines in the metal should be set for ever but to be able to photoshop it - as I said wow!

Memories are shared but not cared for in the same way - looking back it is always rosier - we imagine we can rock flares ! heh heh

A poignant piece - love the layout the way it jumps and skips through a relationship.
Very cool - not square at all.
:)

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Tony....i guess i am square in a few ways at 66...but i will never stop being that hippie freak from the sixties...ever.

j.

[Norman 223]

Having " played" with Photoshop, I related to the distortions that can change the image. Sometimes they can be reversed, but if the memory becomes overloaded, the result becomes permanent.
Your last line was so powerful in its implications.
N.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

your response is so insightful, Norman...i always enjoy your comments so much.

j.

[Jon Roggie]

Most seem to fade. Some tend to linger. Those are the true ones. Nice one.

Jon.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Jon.

j.

[Gypsy Warrior Queen]

Memories...the good, the bad, and the ugly...they all exchange valentines. You never leave me empty friend, never!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

just telling it like it feels...don't know any other way...thank you for your kind words, Queenie.read morejust telling it like it feels...don't know any other way...thank you for your kind words, Queenie.

j.

[Lydia Shutter]

"we sank into each other like blissful quicksand" what a delicious line this is, Jacob! Old photos....we remember what we choose to remember. Often the smiling face in the photo had a knife in his/her hand that we overlooked in real time. I liked this one a lot. Lydi**

[jacob erin-cilberto]

so true, Lydi...
thank you for your words,
j.