the breakfast lady

the breakfast lady

in bells and halters

you altered my twenties

i found your heart by the camera shop

we danced to a lover's question

the answers came in God's time

my belt couldn't hold

up my end of the bargain

the photo faded

an overexposure

of the momentum

of something i could not let go

as you moved on,

i preceded

back to that camera shop

but you had already picked up the film

and left my world

inside the old Kodak

undeveloped.

erin-cilberto

11/17/22

Reviews

[Ayvid N]

A very significant love, this was. Sometimes, good intentions are not enough for love to last because it wasn't meant to be. The sky doesn't meet the earth always. A poem so deeply moving.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, DIVYA..
appreciate you marvelous much, my friend.
I think or at least hope that most times the sky and earth will meet and get along.
j.

[Ayvid N]

You are welcome always, my dear friend!
And of course with enough hope and conviction, everything is possible.
Have an awesome day. 🙋‍♀️

[Vertigo Cat1111]

This was gut wrenching. I can feel this so strongly. The beauty of those old photos has come and gone, but how do you find a way to move on? It’s so wistful, like a punch to the gut, so real. The rhyming, the lines, you can feel the regret and the memories. That last line brought some tears to my eyes. Already gone. Isn’t that a nightmare?

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for feeling this poem...that is the most a poet hopes for.
j.

[Kelly Scheppers]

It was the best of times, wasn't it? How I wish we could go back and feel the thrill of it all again. My Samsung phone has made me all the photographer I need to be for now, but I still have my Olympus in the wings. You made me think of Paul Simon's, "Kodachrome"...and how those old photographs fade. But then again, we all do... in our own sweet time!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your understanding review, Kelly,
j,

[Betty Hermelee]

What might have been in that old camera shop seems to have slipped by....now the photos have faded.... your world was too late, she was gone along with your heart....and love yet to be developed....
Best, B

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thnk you for your insights, Betty,
j.

[Elaine]

Enjoyed the imagery here and your play on words! Nicely done!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Elaine,
j.

[red93]

Very interesting take on the relationship, with a wistful sense of yearning for what might have been. How did we ever cope before Cameras came to Mobile phones and Computers ? Excellent Work again ✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, red,
j.

[Red Brick Keshner]

Oh the number of film rolls that lay about during the transition years from 35mm to digital photography. My dad had his own dark room and had a curious way of developing his prints. I never took it up for the mere impediment of cost. But when the kiosks and shops closed and transitioned that's when the surf rose and the board came handy. That second to last stanza brings to recollection the mix ups that could happen at the shop counter. Now the recording of the world lay developing in the back of poetic minds. Loved to see this sitting poem in a short film! It shall sit with me for some time.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review, Frederick,
j.

[JE Falcon]

"inside the old Kodak
undeveloped." --- Oh what a proper ending, so moving."

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, JE,
j.

[Chris Shaw]

A nostalgia trip of a romance which was not meant to be. So hard to hang on when the significant other has left and moved on. I thought of photographs and wondered whether you have been perusing through your past? That can be painful at times J. Poignant poetry.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

and first meetings...thank you, Chris,
j.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

The harder we try to hold on, the looser the grip becomes. I just don't think we are meant to hold on to anything forever, and our memories serve as a constant reminder of this. And still, we hold on haunted by want and will and things never meant to be.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

we do hold on, don't we? Thank you, Linda,
j.