"The Picture" by Alessio Zanelli

"Photo" Ink on Paper
By J. Artemus Gordon

The Picture

Alessio Zanelli

On the sly, the hand into the drawer.
The one that should have never been pulled out.

Of a sudden, from under a dusty sheaf

of dated sepia postcards, the picture.

The one that should have never been retrieved.

A shiver down the spine,

a bitter smile, as twisted as fleeting,

for an instant the impulse to tear it,

as if the two gloating looks could be killed

by ripping to shreds the paper bearing them.

Afterwards long minutes,

the sunlight slowly fading in the room,

staring at those sneering faces,

supposed to speak

before being wrapped in darkness.

Maybe expecting both to say

what was wished to be heard

rather than the truth.

Poet’s Notes:  Deliberate actions (including those prompted by curiosity or suspicion) always have consequences; so do involuntary or instinctive ones, and so do accidents. Some of them have the undesired power to unearth events long buried and best left forgotten or undiscovered.

Editor’s Note:  I enjoy the way Alessio leaves what is depicted in the picture to the imagination of the reader.