Dead Photographs | Teen Ink

Dead Photographs MAG

By Anonymous

     I remember a pianist with a temper
who bent time to fit an ocean
in a measure, but was delicate enough
to wait for the rain to fall.
I remember the curly laugh of a short
man, who, with pursed lips,
drew a rich melody from a golden
saxophone and swaying feet.
Their eyes were closed,
breathing long forgotten,
both drunken with the moment of being.
I was thrown into the sea after
my father discovered I never learned how to swim. There, I felt my legs struggle forever in a neutral ocean.
I remember summer in my grandmother’s dim room. Crouching, she whispered that
dying was easy for a human.
And that night, I sat sideways on my
cousin’s bicycle as he flew down
lonely streets, where he told me
his dreams in a language I cannot
remember.




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This article has 29 comments.


i love this so much!

This is so true. Your great at writing. :)

on Oct. 13 2017 at 11:12 am
Breezette DIAMOND, Uniontown, Arkansas
84 articles 0 photos 58 comments

Favorite Quote:
Every Time I even think of you, all those bad memories just fade away, 'cause your smile's enough, you're enough...

I literally can't find the words to describe how beautiful this poem is, and I just, wow. You Definitely need to keep writing!!!!!!

on Nov. 30 2016 at 5:29 am
LeisurelySketches GOLD, Tricity, Other
10 articles 1 photo 73 comments

Favorite Quote:
Your life has a limit but knowledge has none. (Zhuangzi)

It's great how you have expressed so much in so little. I think keeping the meaning obscure is what clicks in the poem. Great idea.

on Oct. 12 2016 at 6:44 pm
resegonzales16 BRONZE, Paranaque, California
1 article 0 photos 1 comment
loved it! very inspiring

j2250 DIAMOND said...
on Jun. 19 2016 at 8:41 pm
j2250 DIAMOND, North Andover, Massachusetts
74 articles 9 photos 37 comments
Amazing poem! Wow!

on Feb. 8 2016 at 6:53 pm
Emerald01 ELITE, Charlotte, North Carolina
182 articles 13 photos 13 comments

Favorite Quote:
"We are always feeling every emotion, but only a few are screaming."

I love this.

on Aug. 17 2015 at 5:06 pm
gubblebum112 BRONZE, Spring,
4 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
"I've always spent more time with a smile on my face than not, but the thing is, I don't write about it."- Robert Smith

Wow. What a striking piece. The wording: the metaphors, even though I can't understand them. Beautiful.

on Jul. 26 2015 at 8:03 am
SomeoneMagical PLATINUM, Durham, New Hampshire
22 articles 1 photo 259 comments
I loved it.

on Jun. 10 2015 at 10:37 am
carolinef0x BRONZE, Charleston, South Carolina
3 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
That's where I should be. This is not what I should be doing. This is somebody else.
-Saul Fletcher

SO beautiful! Well done

ADPJ_ BRONZE said...
on May. 15 2015 at 9:11 pm
ADPJ_ BRONZE, Springfield, Massachusetts
1 article 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
The game stays the same kid... The players they change but this game we're playing called life that stays the same until we beat it... or get eleminated


on May. 15 2015 at 12:27 pm
ChloeCook SILVER, Independence, Kentucky
8 articles 0 photos 12 comments

Favorite Quote:
If I exhaled parachutes, I may breathe from great heights.

Absolutely love this poem.

on Apr. 19 2015 at 2:49 pm
EvalynnHeather GOLD, Clemmons, North Carolina
16 articles 4 photos 64 comments
I just love this, especially because I play piano and my good friend plays saxophone... well done!!

on Feb. 26 2015 at 11:12 pm
Temma1026 BRONZE, New York, New York
1 article 0 photos 5 comments
This poem is striking for me. The imagery that you used and the descriptive language took me on a journey while reading the poem. I also loved the ending! You have serious talent!

on Oct. 3 2014 at 11:29 am
LuaJoyce BRONZE, Hamburg, Other
3 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
“I want - I want - I want - was all that she could think about - but just what this real want was she did not know.”
― Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

This is beautiful! The last sentence carries so many feelings. It is somehow heavy, yet it seems to be floating...

on Sep. 10 2014 at 8:34 am
AmazinGracey PLATINUM, Wilmington, Delaware
24 articles 6 photos 25 comments
Beautifully composed.

on Jun. 10 2014 at 11:43 pm
sabrina1499 BRONZE, Staten Island, New York
3 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
"If your eyes can speak, what would they say?"

Absolutely loved it!! 

on Apr. 13 2014 at 3:05 pm
LavanderMayday SILVER, Oroville, California
7 articles 0 photos 72 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Writers aren't exactly one person, they're a whole bunch of people trying to be one person"

Woooow!!!! very very well done!!! =D I really extremly loved this poem..it was truly awesome. Please give some feedback on my poem. =D Thanks! -Alex

OldYoungOne said...
on Nov. 16 2012 at 3:14 pm
Scattered memories are the best memories but anyways I like the peom and the direction it took me :)   Would you mind reading my pieces as well? I would appreciate it greatly if you gave me feedback on my work.

Kiyoko GOLD said...
on Jan. 29 2011 at 11:12 am
Kiyoko GOLD, Knoxville, Tennessee
10 articles 0 photos 43 comments

Favorite Quote:
Independence is my happiness, I view things as they are without regard to place or person. My country is the world, and my religion is to do good. - Thomas Paine

This has a lot of great lines. Very inventive descriptions. Check out my work?