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Open Poetry #14
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Elizabeth Santos
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-11-08
Posts 9269
Pennsylvania

0 posted 2001-06-11 03:30 PM


Family Album

Photographs from decades past spark visions in the mind
Of days forgotten, friendships lost, and places left behind
Each page that’s turned recalls anew the joys of childhood
That future eyes will gaze on with the truth misunderstood

For no one truly knows the grief behind a smiling pose
And family secrets disappear when album pages close
Pictures etch a heritage in silence of a mime
Of one life to another in a frozen face of time

To know a life through photographs is just to know a dream
For life displayed in images may not be what it seems
From an album filled with faces, the sentiments depart
And truth is carried only in the mind and in the heart

And so I think that pictures are a token of a soul
Exposing just the outer shell in what the eyes  behold
The portrait of a father is a portrait of a son
But the truth behind the picture is a treasure fondly won  

Let the stories take you back and be a vital part
So that the lives of those before can penetrate your heart
An old forgotten photograph is half a ballad sung
And so I tell the truth about each picture to my young

The album then becomes alive with joy and pain and strife
And heritage more precious in the meaning of a life

Elizabeth Santos

© Copyright 2001 Elizabeth Santos - All Rights Reserved
Mr»ÄlleÿÇät
Member
since 2001-06-02
Posts 190

1 posted 2001-06-11 03:38 PM


A great read, wonderful, I love the family in all it's light and dark ways
Thank you
Mr»ÄlleÿÇät


Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049
California
2 posted 2001-06-11 03:41 PM


Liz--There is such truth in this...and you have written with the beauty and flow of words that I always find in your poetry.
Lady In White
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Member Elite
since 2001-02-12
Posts 2799
USA
3 posted 2001-06-11 03:43 PM


Lady Santos, thank you for this....
Charisma
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Member Ascendant
since 2000-09-30
Posts 5906
lost in blue pages
4 posted 2001-06-11 03:48 PM


The album then becomes alive with joy and pain and strife
And heritage more precious in the meaning of a life

****

so true my dear Liz.....thank you for sharing your always excellent poetry.

((hugs))
Charisma

Seymour Tabin
Member Empyrean
since 1999-07-07
Posts 31720
Tamarac Fla
5 posted 2001-06-11 03:54 PM


Elizabeth,
Excellent in every way. Sy

Elizabeth
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Member Ascendant
since 1999-06-07
Posts 6871
Minnesota
6 posted 2001-06-11 04:47 PM


So true....heritage is most important....
Mysteria
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Member Laureate
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328
British Columbia, Canada
7 posted 2001-06-11 04:59 PM


Absolutely wonderful!  I am off to sort some of my picture seriously!

~*~ Remember to tell someone today that you love them as tomorrow may never come ~*~

Kit McCallum
Administrator
Member Laureate
since 2000-04-30
Posts 14774
Ontario, Canada
8 posted 2001-06-11 05:08 PM


Oh dear Liz ... I adored this!  I have so many favorites of yours, I'm running out of saying "it's this one, it's this one" ... but I must say, this truly touched my heart. Your sentiments in this hold such wisdom and truth, superbly penned and such a perfect flow to the words. I found my mind wandering to so many of my own family photographs and the stories they would only half-tell. This is a treasure.  Just beautiful!  

Best wishes,
/Kit

[This message has been edited by Kit McCallum (edited 06-11-2001).]

Elizabeth Santos
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-11-08
Posts 9269
Pennsylvania
9 posted 2001-06-11 08:52 PM


Thank you for your comments, Dear friends. It's nice to know others feel the same way.I appreciate your reading.
Liz  

autumn
Junior Member
since 2001-06-08
Posts 44
Maine
10 posted 2001-06-12 01:26 PM


Loved this poem. One of my projects for retirement is to get the pictures out of boxes and into albums. Now I will be sure to add a written discription of the picture.
Lone Wolf
Member Ascendant
since 2000-03-16
Posts 5842
Lansing, MI USA
11 posted 2001-06-12 04:02 PM


Your children are lucky to learn the stories behind the pictures.  Let's face it, most of life is not rosy, but there is much to be learned by future generation from the truth.  You have written this so well.  

All writing comes
by the grace of God.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

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