Treasure-Trove

A photo snapped and a moment
freezes, its subject becoming an
object of study and reminiscence,
until the day it can't be found and
memories become a misty haze.

Like a piece of trusty lock that
lay silently and inconspicuously,
it unlocks personal memories that
recall fond moments past their expiry.

They used to unfold like a chapter
of life in hard pages after pages
but now lay mostly hidden in invisible
folders that lock stories already forgotten.

I still prefer its old glory - the physical touch
and frozen frame as real as the thing
that happened and gave it life.
Flip the pages, feel the edges
Let nostalgia flow and suffuse your senses.

The blue sky shimmers above, the perfect
backdrop to a group of un-uniform boys -
and a girl - boisterious and gathering close
like they have never before fallen in together.

The quiet and rustic charm inspires as
i rode down the track that stretches
for all i care - only the rustling breeze
and swaying lallang move, just like I, and
that is all i need for company to go on forever.

Treacherous though our neighbours are,
we rode streches unscathed perhaps
because luck and sobering mind were on
good terms that morning. Prata was our
reward, and so was the good company,
Unquestionably.

Those silly grins on our faces
staring down ourselves staring
back at us, so funny and fun, it
all seems not too long ago when
we were idling undergrads, free and unruly.

These are treasure-troves, precious
like the thoughts a dear friend offers
you when you are down and out, reassuring
like the ease you feel on entering your own house.
They - they're the eternal gatekeeper of our memories,
Truly.