FebulousFebruary 2026: The Old Photograph

OUT OF THE FRAME: The holiday snap.

Beyond the rectangle of that joyous moment: the celebration, the harmony and familial joy,

We might see –

If only light could bend around the corner…

that fast approaching darkly-laden cloud;

the ugly cabled pole,

As well as:

litter,

Car parks,

Mobile homes

And the general mess of man.

And in that concentrated moment,

The grimace from two minutes past

 Has now transformed into a beaming smile,

Where all the accumulated tensions from six hours of barely speaking

Have now evaporated.

And so this glossy little record 

now belies the enduring anxiety that this is:

our holiday,

our marriage,

our lives?

It belies the harsh realisation that this has been our only shot at life,-

And if we do not smile and posture

Then others might glimpse the inner fear

That  maybe, we have got it all so very wrong.

Ian, Powys.