Brought Back, Passed Back, Throwback Box Brownie Poem by C Richard Miles

Brought lost worlds to life, remembered, there,
Intact, inventive, innovatory
Capturer of a million shining memories
In thirties’ childhood, bought brand new.

Thrown-together cardboard, leatherbound, cheap,
Unique, untested, unsophisticated
Remembrancer of scenes, at the flick of a knob,
For eager, excited schoolboy owner.

Passed through decadence, depression, war,
Perchance, perceptive, perfunctory
Curator of mere moments of human history,
Preserved in blatant black and white.

Brought visual artistry, quick-pictures, snaps,
Sincere, single-lens, synthesising
Compositor of vast vistas and voyages,
Jolly, seaside jaunts or earnest, everyday shots.

Thrown back for a rest, other-age, then,
Mislaid, mistrusted, misunderstood
Casualty of space-age, technological advance,
Ousted to obscurity in swinging sixties, set aside.

Passed down a generation, well-bequeathed, given,
Re-loved, rewarding, re-energised
Collector of crooked, crude, snatched snapshots
Of seventies’ schooltrips and sunsoaked summers.

Brought renewed interest, nostalgia, back,
Concise, confiding, conceptualized
Collator of experience and situation,
Life long-lived, time’s trail travelled.

Thrown into dark drawer, forgotten, spent,
Impugned, imprecise, impracticable
Remainder of another age, outmoded,
Replaced by techie telephoto lens and Polaroids.

Passed over for better, unwanted, tired,
Subdued, submissive, subordinate
Predecessor of pixellated photography,
As digital-dream domination dictated.

Brought to a stop, redundant, dead,
Disused, discarded, disintegrating
Reliquary, derisive, disinterested observer
Of transitory, crass, computerised images.

Thrown away in the wardrobe, at the back, lost,
Surplus, surviving, surreptitious
Straggler, age-ancient, redoubtable relict,
Once modelled, much in vogue, dernier cri.

Passed to the museum, adulated, loved,
Preserved, presented, pre-eminent
Exemplar of its era, much marvelled at,
Enshrined, encased, put on display.

Brought back memories, childhood dreams, youth,
Transformed, transcending, transformational
Renewer of reminiscence for time-clouded minds,
Joy-giving comforter of semi-senile.

Thrown into the limelight, well-displayed, shown,
Illumed, illuming, illimitable
Donor of information for renewed research,
Provoking projects from schoolchildren.

Passed by aficionados, amateurs, all,
Beheld, beguiling, beatified
Transformer of timeless cognisance
To enrich yesterdays for today’s visitors.

Brought back, passed back, throwback
Once-forgotten, overlooked, out,
Mariner unmarooned, maroon box-brownie,
Bringing past to life for one last throw.