“When I look at my old pictures, all I can see is what I used to be but am no longer. I think: What I can see is what I am not.”
― Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project
—
pictures
carved in time,
stilled
in space,
on the spectrum
of what we were
array of lights,
pixels
of frozen moments,
they stare
and gaze
back into your present
they live
on the webs, we have weaved
to seek validation
for an altered past,
that you once held
for a moment
their purpose
to remind
a rosier you
or
to pretend
a better you?
am i enough
moving through time
in my body of bones and flesh?
or shall i distill
this body
in frames of
a highfalutin beauty?
—
do you like taking pictures of thyself?
—
This was beautifully written! Very true 🙂
LOVE this! The ending question makes me finger snap across the internet! Great piece!
I liked your post not only because of the possibility of further distilling, but because I live in a culture that demands pictures and selfies be taken of everything (meals, excruciatingly boring daily minutia). I twist myself into knots avoiding situations where people might want to take my picture. I hide in my house and office. I view pictures as evidence of where, when, and with whom I was behaving in ways not suitable for the public.