The Film Reel in a Grandparent’s Voice

[00:06.96]Their stories flicker through a trembling tone

[00:14.07]Like film reels skipping frames yet filled with light

[00:20.37]A lifetime spools in voices all their own

[00:26.12]Where black-and-white becomes our deepest sight

[00:32.70]No soundtrack plays no actors say their part

[00:39.84]But every pause contains a war a kiss

[00:47.49]Each sigh holds more than volumes can impart

[00:55.82]Each wrinkle hides the turning of the bliss

[01:03.89]They are the cinema we never knew

[01:11.96]Until we listen not with ears but skin

[01:19.68]The screen was there it just stayed out of view

[01:26.96]Until their voice invited us within

[01:48.86]So lean in close before the reel is through

[01:56.84]The film they hold was never made for two