A poem
I took him down, it was time.
Long fixed in sepia tones,
beginning to fade on the bedroom wall.
Now the shadowed patch where he had been
is an empty plaque to the house’s rise and fall.
Dead eyes are those of statues, and the alabaster forehead
bullies the eyebrows down to a ragged droop.
A father and son, fifty years ago, stare blankly down.
Silver watch chain girding like a hoop,
this barrel of a man penned in the frame
is jaunty of a hat, drawing thumbs from his waistcoat.
His stick, always parked behind the door,
stands there eerily still,
now a sad and forlorn relic of yesterday,
seeming to close this chapter and verse
as I take his portrait to the attic.
Unhanging the portrait — exploring the emotions and symbolism
At first sight, this poem may seem just to be a nostalgic piece about the protagonist removing an old picture of dad to the attic, but I used the poem to convey symbolism, the photograph representing a connection to the past and the people in it.
The act of taking it down is symbolic of letting go or moving on. I personally feel a similar sense of nostalgia for the past and people who have gone, and my choice of words and imagery helped me convey the emotions and thoughts I wanted to express.
Taking down the photograph and moving it to the attic seems to signify a sense of closure or transition, and the personal significance of this influenced me to contemplate the impermanence of life and the objects that surround us.