Memory

[tectak]

V.2 changes made on Dale's suggestions



It is easy to remove photographs
from a memory card;

three buttons to press in order
to unlock a blue screen,
a flash of an hourglass. By then,

the album empties itself. We only erase
the dining room, before paneling
was stripped by a hammer

held by a slender pair of hands.
Gone are the slides of the transition
from table and chandelier

to counter and floating island,
or even the glisten of those eyes
once dust thinned and the mask fell

in a picture. The first wall we ever took down
has no frame to remind us
of the color of the wood

we trashed, wiped, cleared,
deleted, erased, forgot.








v. 1

It is easy to remove photographs
from a card assigned to a camera;

three buttons to press in order
to unlock a blue screen,
a flash of an hourglass. By then,

the album empties itself. We only lose
the dining room, before paneling was stripped
by hammer and chisel in a pair

of slender hands. Gone is the record
of the conversion from table and chandelier
to kitchen counter, or even

the glisten of those eyes
once dust thinned,
and the mask fell for a picture.

The first wall we ever took down,
yet not even the color of the wood
comes to mind anymore;

trashed, deleted, wiped,
cleared, erased, forgotten.

Hi phil.
Dale, without doubt, gave a good crit on this. For my part I have but one observation (well, two, but I have given up on your idiosyncrasies) and it is this. Somewhere in the evolution of this piece a great metaphor was made manifest. It has something to do with temporal existence and the perpetuation of memory. It hints at the transience of human endeavour and the febrile architecture of our brief lives. It stirs an atavistic emotion which uncomfortably hints at our basic survival instincts in a modern world.........bugger me, though, I just can't find it!
Expand, please.
Best,
Tectak