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Jun 05, 2025
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Just a Breeze
Sorting through boxes of color slides
ablaze in dazzling tones.
Like the hues contained within the images,
soon enough I'll be just a breeze
locked in a still life shown in the tiny squares.
A ghost in time captured in Kodachrome.
About This Poem
Style/Type: Free verse
Review Request Intensity: I appreciate moderate constructive criticism
Editing Stage: Editing - polished draft
Comments
Candlewitch
2 weeks 5 days ago
Dear Michael,
I much enjoyed the splash of vibrant color in this piece. A short poem that says a lot. The visuals command, ending with the end of our time on earth. have a pleasant evening.
xxx Cat
Michael Anthony
2 weeks 3 days ago
Thanks Cat! Hope all are…
Thanks Cat! Hope all are well.
Best
kowque
2 weeks 5 days ago
Okay, that last word...has me pulling out my dictionary
I love short,impactful things like what you wrote.
You just earned a new fan
Michael Anthony
2 weeks 3 days ago
Appreciate your visit Kowque…
Appreciate your visit Kowque. Most people don't use film cameras these days, so I was wondering if "Kodachrome" would work with younger readers. Thanks for sharing your thoughts here, and glad you liked this piece.
Best
mark
2 weeks 5 days ago
Your Poem
"Just a Breeze" is a wonderfully evocative poem that uses the tangible act of sorting through old color slides to explore themes of memory, mortality, and the fleeting nature of existence. The opening lines immediately draw the reader in with the vivid imagery of "boxes of color slides / ablaze in dazzling tones," setting a nostalgic and almost magical atmosphere. The "dazzling tones" suggest a richness of life and experience captured within these frozen moments.
The poem takes a powerful turn with the comparison, "Like the hues contained within the images, / soon enough I'll be just a breeze." This simile is both delicate and profound. Just as the vibrant colors in the slides are essentially light captured and held, the speaker anticipates a future where they too will become something ephemeral and intangible – "just a breeze." This phrase masterfully conveys a sense of fading, of becoming a whisper in the wind, yet also hints at a continued, if unseen, presence.
The idea of being "locked in a still life shown in the tiny squares" further emphasizes the concept of being preserved in memory, but no longer actively living. It's a poignant recognition that while our images and memories may endure, our physical selves do not. The final line, "A ghost in time captured in Kodachrome," is particularly striking. Kodachrome, a film known for its vibrant and enduring colors, becomes a metaphor for the way our lives are recorded and remembered. The speaker imagines themselves as a "ghost," a presence from the past, forever held within those colorful, tiny squares – a beautiful and slightly melancholic image of legacy and remembrance.
Overall, "Just a Breeze" is a concise yet deeply moving reflection on how we exist in the memories of others after we are gone, and how even the most vibrant lives eventually become a part of a past captured in moments.
Michael Anthony
2 weeks 3 days ago
Hey Mark,Thanks for the VERY…
Hey Mark,
Thanks for the VERY thourough critique of this piece, and for taking the time. I enjoyed reading it.
Cheers
Geezer
2 weeks 4 days ago
I don't have...
any slides, but lots of pictures. Physical pictures, not something on my phone.
Someday, my kids and people that knew me will look at those and say, I remember that, or I was there.
I am seriously thinking of getting another 35 mm. camera that uses actual film to be developed, but I fear that it will soon be a thing that disappears, and no way to develop the film. Anyway, a really good
piece, that resonates with me. ~ Geez.
.
Punkyfrewster
2 weeks 4 days ago
Geez,
Try a digital camera. You can use your printer and photo paper. You get the same product!
Michael Anthony
2 weeks 3 days ago
The inspiration for this hit…
The inspiration for this hit me as I was sorting through my mother's belongings - so many pictures! Apreciateyou sharing your comments on this piece Geez.
Best
mark
2 weeks 4 days ago
slides
that's sll my dad had hundreds of them and a carouse. The entire family would sit around while he worked the carousel. it was like a family party. whenever the slides came out.
Michael Anthony
2 weeks 3 days ago
Same here Mark! After the…
Same here Mark! After the 2nd or third carousel though our attention spans usualy surrendered.
Best
Lavender
2 weeks 4 days ago
Just a Breeze
Hello, Michael,
So much here that is both tangible and fleeting. A thought, a sigh, a breeze.
So nice.
L
Michael Anthony
2 weeks 3 days ago
Thanks L! Loved your latest…
Thanks L! Loved your latest piece - hope you are well.
Best