I don’t know much about numbers.

Those timelines, circles,

the circumstances of diameters.

You see, us 90’s kids had it simple.

We belonged to a different school of thought

Sometimes the nostalgia still hits  

for the car gears speeding through 

fourth gear!

And all I was doing back then, 

was racing through, 

a blazing need for speed,

video games,

dodging the cars at this 

Joyland.

the guilty pleasures of jubilees, candies, chilli millie jellies

the posters from weekly magazines like Young Times and Smash,

cutting out the best boy band spreads – Backstreet Boys.

Junoon and Strings concerts taking place at Defence Club and GymKhana 

Gaddafi Stadium always filled with music and theater beats,

It was an era without threat

Safe from the pall of security.

My VCR  still talks to me from the dust;

all the packed VHS cassettes look at me.

Waiting for someone to clean them up,

to gift them purpose again

Switching on to; “Slow it down” phase town time.

My 36 negative reel, black and white, steals secret glances,

still waiting to be developed.

Old post mail drawers; with faces once full of innocence,

full of hope and dreams.

My old collection of stamps from all around the globe;

though they are not mine; friends and family gave them to me.

Their glue was peeling off from the corners of their white sheets.

I don’t know if I should let them be or tack them down with new glue ;

I don’t want their vintage scent to go

Shall I post hand written letters via the old post box office to my best friend in London?

I told her I would, because I want to receive post mail in these  rapid times.

Old posters  on my wardrobe wall;  now brownish,

Some , wallet size.

my polaroid photos still bright, like fresh coffee; 

full of wondrous smiles;

Why have I kept them all; VHS tapes, stamps, posters and letters?

I have protected them from the world  

I have kept mixtapes of joys and laughter

 In the abandoned home,

Of yesterdays and goodbyes;

A time when we all actually lived and collected memories in alcoves of the mind!

Oh yes! I am an old school 90s kid; 

Stuck in 2019;

I watch the horizon before me,

Renew itself in 

Arc after arc

Artwork by: Zahrah Ehsan