triveni spotlight: 15th March 2026
- Anju Kishore
- Mar 15
- 2 min read
triveni spotlight A FEATURE EVERY ALTERNATE DAY hosts: Anju Kishore and Mohua Maulik GUEST EDITOR: Swagata Soumyanarayan
15th March 2026
triveni spotlight March 2026
boxes of negatives
vanishing points of
our children
—Thomas Smith
The Heron’s Nest, September 2024
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Nostalgia
“We are all strangers in a strange land, longing for home, but not quite knowing what or where home is. We glimpse it sometimes in our dreams, or as we turn a corner, and suddenly there is a strange, sweet familiarity that vanishes almost as soon as it comes.”― Madeleine L’Engle, The Rock That Is Higher: Story as Truth
The Greek meaning of nostalgia is ‘pain from an old wound’ and this feeling is more than just a memory. It’s a bittersweet ache that makes one crave to go back to the place where it all began. To me, nostalgia is a surreal world I visit that’s filled with scenes from school, my late parents, old friends, and so much more. A part of it is tinged with sorrow for the days past but there’s also joy when reminiscing fun times of childhood.
Nostalgia paints a rosier version of the past and we believe that ‘today’ is terrifying. We imagine the present as a strange land from which we need to return to the past. But we fail to see the past’s flaws and that everything has its place. Nostalgia allows us to reflect on our journey, growth, and experiences. It’s akin to a jar of coins that we collect through life and can use when needed.
The selected poems touch upon different shades of emotions and memories and delve into both past and present. I hope the poems will touch the readers and invite them to linger awhile. My warm thanks to each poet for their verse.
As William Faulkner said, “Memory believes before knowing remembers.” ― Light in August
Swagata Soumyanarayan
Thank you, Swagata. We can't wait to see how the month unfolds, one poem at a time, just like how nostalgia as an emotion peels us, a layer at a time.
Team Triveni Spotlight
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What a powerful image and metaphor.
Alan Summers, thank you for your thoughts and comparison on the 'vanishing point.' The art perspective and the one about children both make up for a memorable poem by Thomas Smith.
boxes of negatives
vanishing points of
our children
—Thomas Smith
The Heron’s Nest, September 2024
There is something so tangible in a box of negatives, even without opening the box, and holding strips up to the light.
As children grow up and lead their own lives, part of them remains in those boxes perhaps just as different to them as if they found them in someone else's garage or attic etc...
A vanishing point is a specific spot on the horizon line in a perspective drawing or photograph where parallel lines (like railway tracks or road edges) appear to converge and disappear.
Great use of that term for this haiku!
Alan