Black and White Delights

... Black and White memories of the road taken …

~ The father of the girl from the North Country Fair ~

Black and White Delights

Found inside the old  Scottish steamer trunk
from the trip to find a brighter day
Tucked away in the dustiest corner
of the darkest of lonely rooms
Countless black and white delights
lay cold and brittle
The memories they recorded are
tucked away in albums
Ragged shoe-boxes
filled to the corrugated brim
Overflowing plastic pages
Black and White memories
of the road taken…

The journey on this long road
had many twists and turns
Pot hole twisted ankles
Bumps and bruises,
obstructions brought travelers to their knees
Indecision's crossroads went past
that road not taken
Paths and trails forged
through the thick density of perplexity
Life’s conundrums
of forward movement.
Pathways of nonconformity
must be new trails blazed
Silent reflection in quest
of a brighter, more hopeful,
peaceful existence

Inertia that carried momentum's
uncontrolled cadence
drifting through moments
swept away by turmoil
All moments recorded and remembered
as if even the darkest night’s
memories meanings ,
would somehow be revealed ,
timelessly , from first to last
Retrospective revelations
found in black and white images

Stacks of life in Black and White
Cracked and discolored by darkness
Tattered and faded by the light
Vivid and daunting
Positive photo prints
Negative film strips
Slides to reprint
lost memories illumination
Magnification seen through the looking glass
Snippets of life’s baggage left behind
now remain as still similes of lost time
Serving as a reminder,
preserving  destiny's journey
documenting life's long and winding road followed...

 © 2012 Harlon Rivers