Time ebbs away in the blink of an eye,
The harder you clench your fist, the faster it gushes out.
Call it the law of nature or a beautiful tragedy if you will:
It leaves behind a wet palm.
For life is an ongoing slideshow
And I’m trying to burn it in my retinas,
freezing fluid moments in the confines of my memory.
Tracing the rugged edges of the albums with my fingers,
I buckle in for a rollercoaster ride.
The first set of pictures is a bit grainy, no filters whatsoever- raw emotion, facial honesty, sheer innocence.
A grin that rivals the Sun, albeit with only one tooth in the jaw;
Tiny eyes closed in contentment, chubby cheeks squished by parental love on both sides.
The endearment in my heart gets accompanied with amusement on seeing the proof of angry fits, childish tantrums and wars of sibling rivalry,
A mischievous giggle escaping my lips.
Then come the rather monumental firsts,
Neat braids, tidy uniform and squeaky clean shoes!
Hands linked together, one over another for elocution.
I quirk a brow at the achievement photographs-
Hands possessively clutching the certificate with a not so subtle smug smile stretched across my face.
Turning the pages, I land on the badge of foolery with friends,
Party music, hair down, volume up- thunderous laughter resounding from those silent polaroids.
Not a care in the world for a possible whiplash from such aggressive moves,
No heed paid to the right key of the song.
Additionally, there are some chirps of ‘say cheese’- tamer smiles in stock.
No offense to staged photoshoots,
But it’s most heartwarming to retrieve the film of nostalgia from the ordinary canister of daily life.
A summer selfie during an all nighter, peace signs on display,
A snap of candid smiles and unimpressed expressions on hearing a dad joke,
A sneaky screenshot of a quarantine video call with friends, capturing funny faces,
Or just a reminder of me falling asleep on the couch.
That. That is what I live for.
Happily blinded by the flash-back,
I can simply collect new film, head reeling with the possibilities carried by the years to come.
I happened to do some cleaning yesterday and found out some old poems, notebooks and drawings of mine which obviously gave me nostalgia. So this was me sharing some of my favorite memories, what are yours?
Yours truly,
The Ink Warrior.
Happier You❤ 