The 9th Edition of the "I Smile for the Camera" Carnival is Posted

Strangers in the Box

Come, look with me inside this drawer,
In this box I've often seen,
At the pictures, black and white,
Faces proud, still, serene.

I wish I knew the people,
These strangers in the box,
Their names and all their memories
Are lost among my socks.

I wonder what their lives were like,
How did they spend their days?
What about their special times?
I'll never know their ways.

If only someone had taken time
To tell who, what, where, or when,
These faces of my heritage
Would come to life again.

Could this become the fate
Of the pictures we take today?
The faces and the memories
Someday to be passed away?

Make time to save your stories,
Seize the opportunity when it knocks,
Or someday you and yours could be
The strangers in the box.

Pam Harazim

footnoteMaven has just published the 9th Edition of the "I Smile for the Camera" Carnival - "Who Are You" over at her Shades of the Departed digital publication. Forty-seven bloggers posted their "strangers in a box," hoping to find some answers to their mysteries. Maven, I think you may have to publish an encore edition, as I'm sure these photographic puzzles shared are only the tip of the iceberg of some very deep boxes!

The word prompt for the 10th Edition of Smile For The Camera is Costume? No, not as in Halloween. Costume as in dress in general; especially the distinctive style of dress of a people, class, or period. Show us that picture that you found with your family collection or purchased that shows the costumes of the rich to the not so rich, from the civil war to the psychedelic sixties. I know you have them, so share. Admission is free with every photograph!

Your submission may include as many or as few words as you feel are necessary to describe your treasured photograph. Those words may be in the form of an expressive comment, a quote, a journal entry, a poem (your own or a favorite), a scrapbook page, or a heartfelt article. The choice is yours!

Deadline for submission is midnight (PT) 10 February 2009. Posted - 15 February 2009.

Poem
Harazim, Pam. "Strangers in the Box." Date unknown. Viewed 16 January 2009 at http://www.scrapbook.com/poems/doc/8365/112.html.