Cardboard Tableau

My cardboard tableau
lend sight to the sounds
image fixed in my mind
why are you still the same?
I found you in the past
when my years were few
the music drew me there
ordained with cover’s view

records found behind your face
tapes concealed beyond the flare
doorway to life’s harmony
beyond the heroes fixed in ink
before MTV killed the star
the music rose from your throats
imagination lent your voice
to the tunes found within

the alter in bold colors drawn
photos of youth’s saviors
beyond mundane I worshiped
revelation of your appeal
the many times I spun the disk
played the tape in boom box bold
I stared into your fixed gaze
wishing I was something more

the years have passed one by one
though I’ve seen you on the stage
in video and concert scene
yet here you are once again
still so young while I am old
frozen by the spell then cast
I’ve moved along, you have not
cardboard tableau of youth now lost.

2016, Sean Green. All Rights Reserved, 20160927.

Before videos our exposure to musicians and bands came from the presentations found on album covers.  The poem “Cardboard Tableau” is about the magical nature of album covers experienced by the older generations.