Unreliable Flashbacks (Poetry)
02nd March 2025
What am I supposed to do
with all these memories?
I have no one to share them with
that party is long-over
and those present back then
have all gone home
Like the trailers from old films
they pop into my head
uninvited
but assuming all the same
they would be welcome
with their well-known actors
some ages-since retired
others who-knows-where ...
these troubling times
I watch alone
there’s no one who
I can check with
that these are authentic
clips from real life
and I haven’t
invented or enhanced
drama to make my past
less dull
less nondescript
But no
there was drama
too much of it in fact
I try to skip the weepies
if I can
resist the urge to edit
yet always the niggle
the sly whispering doubt
and no one to confirm
or otherwise
that I might have made you up
with all these memories?
I have no one to share them with
that party is long-over
and those present back then
have all gone home
Like the trailers from old films
they pop into my head
uninvited
but assuming all the same
they would be welcome
with their well-known actors
some ages-since retired
others who-knows-where ...
these troubling times
I watch alone
there’s no one who
I can check with
that these are authentic
clips from real life
and I haven’t
invented or enhanced
drama to make my past
less dull
less nondescript
But no
there was drama
too much of it in fact
I try to skip the weepies
if I can
resist the urge to edit
yet always the niggle
the sly whispering doubt
and no one to confirm
or otherwise
that I might have made you up