LPs and armchair theories

I remember the time
we found that stash
of eleven vinyl records
in the attic of that derelict
we used to rent downtown
strewn among rat droppings
but safe and unscratched
in their dog-eared jackets -
Shostakovich, Vivaldi, Gershwin
each inscribed in a calligraphed hand :
I love you Peter,
yours ever, Laura.
all dated the 14th of June
from 1988 to 1999.

we brought the LPs down
played them one by one
night after night at dinner
speculating all the while
on the lives of the previous renters -
the mysterious Laura and Peter
concocting our own tales -
14th June was Peter’s birthday
or that’s when he first met Laura
or that’s when they got married
how they likely never made it
past the turn of the millennium
her gift of one LP a year
coming to an abrupt stop
when Laura ceased to love Peter
somewhere at the eleven year mark.

we took random guesses
at the vows they broke
pictured their union tail spinning
neither claiming the record collection
and as a last act of severance
forsaking their musical baggage
discarded in the attic
the vestige of a love gone rancid.

back then you and I
were one year old newbies
and marriage and armchair theories
came so flippant and easy.

Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad is a Sydney artist, poet, and improv pianist. She holds a Masters Degree in English and is a former teacher. Her artworks and accompanying poetry have been exhibited in Kuwait, India, Singapore, and Australia. She is a member of Sydney’s North Shore Poetry Project and Authora Australis, and has published her poetry in various print and online art and literary journals in Australia, Canada, the US and UK. She regularly performs her poetry and exhibits her paintings in Sydney.

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/oormila_paintings/