Places I Can Only Go in Pictures and in Memories
Ekphrastic Challenge December 2022
This poem was written in response to the Rattle® Poetry Ekphrastic Challenge for December 2022 and was ultimately not selected. You can find more information here.
https://www.rattle.com/ekphrastic/
The image that this poem was specifically written about can be found here. (December 2022 – J. Stormer’s “Unsatisfied Externals”)
https://i0.wp.com/www.rattle.com/ekphrasis/EC22Dec2.jpg?ssl=1
Places I Can Only Go in Pictures and in Memories
Glimpse into their souls
Depictions of the lives that once were
In a world that now is
People gone in physical existence
Now memories in our hearts
Stories captured in still frame
My mother’s mother and her four daughters in their Sunday best
Behind her smile is a secret she kept for nearly forty years
Three sons born before she was married, all given up for adoption
My mother’s father in his military uniform
Even in black and white, his smile sparkles
His rosary, once kept in his pocket, now sits beside his ashes in his urn
Today, his dog tags hang around my aunt’s neck
My father’s mother in her wedding dress
All her grandchildren baptized in a gown made from that cloth
All except for me, the only one of a different religion
My father’s father stationed in countries abroad
As he fought in World War II
He died when my dad was fifteen
My dad looks so much like him and I have his eyes too
And my mother, hair twirled in a bun
As she holds me, fresh from the hospital
The only child of my parents to survive into adulthood
She passed away one week ago, so suddenly and unexpected
The house empty, still, and silent in her absence
I stare at these old photographs
Some things exactly the same
Surroundings hardly changed
Yet, some things are so vastly different
Almost unrecognizable
People once so close, now so far away
I see them through windows to the past
And they visit me through doors to the future
Place I can only go in pictures and in memories
As I rock my baby in my arms
I recount their stories
Telling the next generation
So that our forbearers are not forgotten to time
Submitted under MRB
About the Creator
Rae Fairchild (MRB)
I love to write; putting pen to paper fills my heart and calms my soul!
Rae Fairchild is my pen name. (Because why not? Pseudonyms are cool!)
I do publish elsewhere under my real name, Mary Rae Butler. (Fairchild, an old family surname.)
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insight
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
Comments (1)
So very beautifully written! Love it❤️! It touched me deeply.