Unzipping the Past

Sorting through old pictures kept in weathered leather albums
I am sorting through the questions, that are tethered in my head

If time is truly relative, (as often we have heard)...
    then,...what defines this moment?

I am living here, while missing them....but is it me that's really dead?

Am I here? Am I there? Is it now? Is it then? 
Am I living in the future, or has tomorrow come and gone?
All the familiar faces, in sepia faded poses, are here within my hand

I sense the comfort of their arms.  Their voices, soft and lingering...
How can that be, if they are gone......yet still a part of me?
Perhaps they still live and it is me,  who is fading, all along?...

Wind at the window, and an old ticking clock,
      keeping me counting, pondering thoughts
While the questions unanswered circle the room...
I re-memorize the faces, ....each page is a story, 
the story keeps weaving, .....in memory's loom 

My mother, alive, long brown braids, as a child...
Younger than I ever knew her to be...
My father, so strong, ...before he was frail...
The faces before me, did they follow my trail?
Or did they come first, ...with stories to tell?
Yes, here is my grandmother, who cradled me well.....
Where did she go? She lives in me still... 
Or is she still here, looking down from above
while I still feel the love, as I look down at her now?

What is time, what is death, where am I in the scheme of things?
Can you help me unlock the spell...
Tell me, ....tell me......
Do we circle around the wheel of life, of death, of time....
In sepia, faded yellow and brown?
Copyright © | Year Posted 2009

Poem

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12
Guzzi Avatar
October 30, 2010 at 5:11 PM
The last two lines are priceless, congrad's Light & love
Haick Avatar
October 19, 2010 at 5:22 PM
Congratulations on your awesome win in Constance's contest, Carrie!!! Great poem. Love, Audrey
Kendrick Avatar
October 19, 2010 at 5:09 PM
Congratulations on your win in this contest..Sara
Roberts Avatar
October 9, 2010 at 2:07 PM
congrats on your win in the contest with this wonderful entry
Fraser Avatar
October 9, 2010 at 7:02 AM
Many congratulations Carrie on your win in Constance's contest 'Why oh Why' have a lovely weekend >> James
Augustus Avatar
October 8, 2010 at 1:20 PM
Very nice and pretty powerful! This poem is really something to think about. Congratulations on your first place win.
Brown Avatar
October 8, 2010 at 10:34 AM
Congratulations on your win Carrie. Love,Carol
Mehta Avatar
October 8, 2010 at 5:19 AM
Congratulations on this well deserved win, Carrie
Taylor Avatar
October 8, 2010 at 5:10 AM
Congrats, Carrie. Truly outstanding narrative. Well deserved win. Enjoyed. Have a super weekend. xxxRalph
Wilson Avatar
October 8, 2010 at 4:04 AM
Congrats on your 1st place win Carrie! This is just beautiful..Take care~Deb
Mossburg Avatar
October 8, 2010 at 2:17 AM
This poem moved me. It is full of really visual moments and such depth of feeling. This is a well deserved "First Place" in this contest. Congrats, Steve P.S. I really admire (and envy) your talent.
Sweetheart Avatar
October 7, 2010 at 11:42 PM
Cngrats Carrie on another number one win in Constance's contest with this extra special entry luv.. enjoy this happy weekend with luv..
Neels Avatar
October 7, 2010 at 11:17 PM
Carrie this is such a beautiful write. Congratulations on your first place in the contest with this gem ;)
Haick Avatar
October 7, 2010 at 10:38 PM
Congratulations on your Ist Place win in the contest, Carrie... Love, Audrey
Dietrich Avatar
October 7, 2010 at 9:23 PM
wow, amazing thoughts, Carrie. so much to contemplate looking at those old photos. GREAT win for you. Of course, Constance would love this too. Super congrats. Luv, Andrea
La France Avatar
October 7, 2010 at 8:55 PM
Congratulations, Carrie, with 1st place in my contest, Why Oh Why, this poem truly spoke to my heart... I think I have your address for the Certificate of Achievement in Poetry, but if you could just confirm in soup mail, I will forward asap.~~
Devonshire Avatar
April 7, 2009 at 4:47 PM
Our legacies live only as long as those who remember us do. This is a beautiful poem, Carrie!
Esquire Avatar
March 31, 2009 at 9:56 PM
Dear Carrie,YOU are absolutely Amazing How YOU draw the reader into the past, into now, into Time YOUR POEMS take me to so many spaces in life I have never Known ALWAYS... HG
Smith-Johnsen Avatar
March 31, 2009 at 9:02 PM
Ooooo...Sadness, nostalgia and hope all in one thought provoking place...your poem. I miss my grandmas, too. And, I do enjoy those sepia memories that circulate between my mind and heart. Excellent write and write and great rhyme.
Lopez Avatar
March 31, 2009 at 5:51 PM
great thought. are those who go before us 'really ever gone' hmmmmm? provoking thoughts! very nice...
Atanacio Avatar
March 31, 2009 at 10:41 AM
well thought and written perfectly-- questions that everyone ponders deep within their own calm loved it
Gass Avatar
March 31, 2009 at 7:49 AM
This is an awesome piece, Carrie! TheMemories and love for those precious peple in yor life and the deeply provoking questions that you leave us to ponder. Wonderful poetry, my talented friend! One of my favs! Love, Robin
Winter Avatar
March 31, 2009 at 7:07 AM
I get moments of these feelings too Carrie. Well expressed, and wishing I knew what Kristin knows. Awesome writing. Powerful. Love, Shar
Strand Avatar
March 31, 2009 at 2:36 AM
Beautiful memoir Carrie.Rgds Brian & thanks for your welcome comments
Reynolds Avatar
March 31, 2009 at 1:53 AM
Ah, my old friend - time. There is no such thing as "time" as far as clock. there is only the enternal now. it is all just now. and yes, iut is a record (this was the hardest for me to grasp) that all time is always happening. right now, myself as a girl is somewhere perhaps playing with a doll; somewhere my teenage self is being nasty probably! etc...somewhere my mother is playing with me as a baby...somewhere my gran is a baby herself - every moment is always happeneing! Awesome! Love this, K
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