An Ode to the Girl Who I Could Never Write
she smiled
a wry smile
facsimile
practiced to mimic
the movement
over and over again
that occupied her heart
It happened per chance. I pulled her beanie over her eyes and took some photographs. It somehow worked. The lighting was perfect. The heavy pregnant sun just above the tree and horizon. Late afternoon. That funny stage of the day just before the evening; a signal that the day has ended; a signal that the darkness will soon follow.
She smiled and laughed and embraced the moment with me. We were children again (when are we not?) and life's problems were left on the periphery, on the edge of life, where it could not harm us in the moment.
We danced and I took photographs, the sun kissed her skin and the camera tried to copy the moment. But like in Plato's philosophical works, the photograph is merely a copy of that moment; an inexact copy at that.
The poems to follow is even further removed from the moment, a copy of a copy; thrice removed. But it again tries to capture the moment, even if just a brief moment thereof, even if only a waft of the true and original smell. Like the smell coming from a bakery, one is left in a strange limbo; you are not experiencing the eating of the bread, but you are part of the situation in some way or form. You are indirectly experiencing it.
In any case, I hope you enjoy these photographs of the girl who I could never write. I am still on the journey to try and write her.
Dancing Like Children in the Sun
Beanie: A Poem
hidden and tucked away
your eyes a mystery
one that seems
to never reveal itself
like truth - aletheia -
you partially disclose
what I desire
o my darling
would you not remove
what keeps me so far away
from my longing
or should I again
search for your beauty
in the creases of your beanie?
Postscriptum, or Youthful Moments
Life is what it is. Epictetus is said to have said: people are not troubled by things but merely by the opinions they have on things. We can get bogged down and depressed by our situation or by life, but we need to remain viginlant against these feelings; they have a tendency to take over even though the contrary might also be just as valid. Bad news is much more believable and sought after than good news. We just remind ourselves to be youthful and smile.
"Wees laf" we normally say in my home language. Be silly, foolish. Life is serious, and there are areas and times in which you need to be serious. But life is too short to always be this serious. One needs to laugh and be funny and silly.
In any case, I hope you enjoyed this post of the girl who I could never write and who is now hiding behind her beanie!
Happy photographing, stay safe.
All of the photographs are my own, taken with my Nikon D300 and 50mm Nikkor lens. The musings and poems are also my own creations.