Do you ever notice the way that certain scents, movements, actions can transport you back in time to a particular place or memory? I’m transported vividly back to the ornate mustard-hued apartment in a Palazzo in Venice whenever I inhale Ralph by Ralph Lauren, certain yoga poses have somehow become connected with memories of university, of an airport in Rome, of a case I worked on when I was a lawyer. It endlessly fascinates me how these things are seemingly randomly connected. I notice these experiences, collect them, turn them over in my hand to observe them. Taking photos is another fascination of mine – amassing moments and memories to relive and treasure again later.
The cool, heady scent
pulls me
hurtling through
timezones and eras
back
to the city of bridges
to the strains of a
melancholy opera
caressing the shimmering
cobblestones
…
Smooth movements
trembling positions
As I tilt my face towards
the hint of sun
revisiting memories
conversations
places that
attach themselves
cling invisibly to
the arc of my body
…
The jolt of the
shutter, the eye
springing shut
capturing the movements
frozen, the moments
finite now made
timeless
a portal beckoning
connecting us
forever to the
past
This post is inspired by the Five Minute Friday writing challenge. Each week I join with this talented group of writers, free writing for five minutes in accordance with a prompt. Today’s prompt is ‘collect’.
