A moment is ever so fleeting, and yet
A moment is what gets set
As a memory
That is free
To put back the clock in a jiffy, like a jet!

This is what happened when

Specky (my wife) and I were browsing through our old photo albums and she suddenly said, ‘Look, here is the first tiny snowman that Pushkin built in York!’ I looked and indeed found even the silently smiling mini snowman wafting out of the album like a fragrance from the past.

The two of us took a deep breath and let the past moment seep into us again… and we were transported to the York of December 1994. Specky was there as a Commonwealth scholar with her tomes of math books, with me playing with words to write yet another poem, and Pushkin (our son in class four then) happily looking at his work done with snow on Frances Street.

That moment from more than 12 years ago brought a twinkle in our eyes and we looked at each other, held hands, and silently savoured the romantic moment.

One fragrant moment from the past

One fragrant moment from the past

 

 

Arvind Passey
14 November 2013