Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Faded Portrait

Inspired by my thoughts while viewing an old family portrait hanging in a Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Manchester, TN.

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Faded Portrait

A family portrait from long long ago
Faded and dulled by time it does sadly show

Each face with expressions that attempt to say
The kind of lives they lived each and every day

Were they happy or were they sad?
Were their days mostly troubled or sometimes glad?

We can intently study for a hint of their life
But the faces are unfeeling on both the man and his wife

The couple portrayed has long since passed on
Years from now we too will also be gone

Our life is only a flickering shadow in time
We must explore life fully, not just the sublime..

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It was obvious as I looked at this “Faded Portrait” that the couple portrayed were dressed in their Sunday best. It was also obvious that they were immigrants who had endured a hard life. Their faces and eyes reflected the tiredness in their bodies. They had probably come to this country with a dream, they probably still had it, but their lives must have been full of hard work and pain. Even through the facade of their serious stares into the camera I could see what they were hiding.
I felt a sadness as I contemplated the scene and what I could see past the portrait.
At the time of this poem I had not made any contact with my European relatives. I remember my Grandma had occasional contact with some relatives in Belgium over the years but these stopped when her contacts probably passed away.
My Grandma passed away at the age of 106 years. During the last 30 or so years of her life she probably had no one left to communicate with?
I had no family portrait of any of my ancestors past my grandparents.
Was this one of the reasons I was so captivated by a faded portrait?
Was this the reason for my curiosity?
Things would change soon when I made contact with my European relatives.
That story will be next.

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