In the snapshot, you are smiling,
the great uncle I knew for only a few years;
yet I keep your photographs,
nineteen-thirties monochrome,
together with Neptune’s and Davy Jones’
endorsement of your initiation
into the solemn mysteries of the deep.
Seven years to the day before my mother’s birth,
you sat on a boat bound for Padang
with your diver’s suit and aqualung,
and a smile that I remember among
faces I could never know.
As a child, I imagined you diving
with mermaids, serpents
and other creatures of the sea,
the glass in your helmet like a TV.
I kept a few of the treasures
you brought home from Japan:
the Damascene necklace
with the butterfly
that reminds me
of days gone by.
But the green silk kimono
with the painted blossoms
was lost in the undertow
of life.
Kim M. Russell, 2018
My response to Poets United Midweek Motif: Treasure
Sumana is our host for this week’s treasure of a midweek motif.
So wonderful! Love the beautiful images in every line. And I must say we were on the same wavelength today though mine is a teeny tiny one 🙂
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Thank you, Sumana. I’ll be back later to read and comment.
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Fabulous dedication for memories of yesteryear.. 😎🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀
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Thank you, Dorna! 🙂
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OwOOOOO! Love. I have tears in my eyes! How many photos, how many people and things in my life deserve this tratment. Thank you for this poem and its “solemn mysteries of the deep.”
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Thank you for your kind words, Susan.
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Lovely write all wrapped in memories… you inspired me to go hunting in the attic… 🙂
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Thank you, Robert. I hope you find something interesting or exciting.
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Such a lovely remembering. How sad the beautiful green silk kimono has been lost.
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I cherished it for years. I even allowed a friend to wear it in a school production of Aladdin, and then one day it was gone. 😢
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It’s amazing what stories an old photo or certificate will conjure up in our minds. These family artifacts are treasures indeed.
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Lovely memories. He was obviously an adventurer.
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Thank you, Viv.
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That is a wonderfully dense and heartfelt write. A beautiful memory and you definitely brought him alive!
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Thank you so much!
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Such lovely treasures! I too, have various things from relatives long gone they are so special.
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Thank you, Bekkie.
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Love this!
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Thank you, Annell!
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I just love this! The descriptions, the nostalgia, the childhood take on things… and I suppose because many families have some version of this, including mine. Your closing sentence is perfect (albeit rather sad).
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Thank you, Rosemary. I felt sad writing this poem as there are so few members left of my mother’s family and we were once so close. When Mum died, my youngest sister just took or got rid of everything. What I have left is very precious to me.
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It’s too bad you never met your uncle. He sounds like such an interesting, life-loving man. I think your closing line is so simple, but says so much. Lovely poem.
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Thank you, Myrna.
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Wonderful treasure nuggets. I am glad you included the photo!
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Thank you, Sara!
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Indeed a treasure filled poem, thanks for sharing Kim; words and photo
EASTER BLESSINGS
much love…
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Thank you, Gillena. Have a wonderful Easter! 🌷🌷🌷
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