Two Sentence Tuesday #32

            The towering fir stood proudly, twinkling in hues of periwinkle, auburn, and plum. I sat before it, transfixed, and my enchantment had fleetingly carried me back to the innocence of my first Christmas. 

I've Seen This One Before

I've Seen This One Before

Hazy memories,

Projecting in my mind’s eye

Through sentimental filters,

Are nothing but a

Bogus Capra-fication

Of underwhelming events.

Everybody has

Cinematic reflections;

More compelling, I suppose,

But what, then, is real

In our art-house memories…

And can “genuine” compare? 

30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Ten

Day Ten - Listen to an excerpt of Joe Brainerd’s “Remember” here: http://buff.ly/14GJb1c . Write your own version.



What Do I Remember?


Do I remember the nighttime games
With other neighborhood children,
Running through the darkness and
disturbing quiescent yards with raucous glee?

Do I remember hanging from a cliff,
Excitement and horror fighting over my soul,
And sweet, golden relief dowsing me
Like a victory vat of Gatorade
As unsteady feet were merrily greeted
By reassuring terra firma?

Do I remember the music;
The lads rowdily scorching the stage;
The circle of dizzy ladies
In matching fashion tank tops,
Swaying to the thundering melodies
As aural ecstasy filled their hearts?


Do I remember the broadcast;
Concrete and steel; burning… crumbling;
Tumbling aerial ballerinas taking
Fateful swan dives to the depths of madness,
Never to be seen again?

Do I remember a phone call
On a lazy, lie-in weekend morning;
A four minute conversation,
And at the end,
All the rules had changed?

Do I remember a choice; a journey, begun;
An infinitely complicated simplicity,
To reach within vast, darkly mysteries
And pull illumination
Out of a tall Grey hat?

I guess I remember all of this…
More than this.
I remember seconds and hours,
Days and decades,
Like endlessly whirling machinations
Of an eternal zoetrope,
Forever retelling an amazing story.

2012

2012

By Brandon Palzkill

Another year is lost

to the swirling sands of time,

buried beyond our reach

in the drifting deserts

of eternity.

Forever lost familiar days,

eternally burned themselves

into our shifting memories

with the bittersweet

searing caress

of an absentee lover

who’s left their kiss

etched upon our lips.

We long to embrace them again,

yet we teeter at the precipice

of the future,

in eager anticipation

of the mysteries ahead of us,

the adventures in store,

the sunrise of the new

tomorrow.

We face our choice;

take a daring leap forward

into the great

unknown abyss,

or become a sturdy oak,

deeply rooted

in the safe, inviting past.

This decision waits

for everybody,

but it won’t wait all day,

we’re at time’s mercy,

one and all,

and time waits for no one.

Photographs

Photographs

By Brandon Palzkill

All these photographs;

vivid postcard memories

of my long forgotten past.

Each one, a window;

carrying me across time,

toward forever yesterday.