V I V I D S O U L S
Time has passed; yet, this unforgettable night remains in our memories.
At midnight, we stopped missing the Sun. Our happiness had lightened up the scenery before our eyes. And we wished for this celebration to go on forever. Smiling was an easy task. It was washing onto others like a pouring rain.
There was something familiar and calming in rejoicing in a good feast, alongside friends and family. The ambient chaos of multiple conversations merging in an unintelligible bruhaha was soothing. We were left needing more, as if the unsubtlety of a cacophonic background noise was itself a poem only we, could decipher. A matter of the heart.
Sometimes, a voice would caress all conversations because of its deeper tone. And it would sing from the souls, a tune we are not reminded enough in our daily life. Words as simple as "I love you". Often, my soul would ache after hearing those. We, as individuals, are solitary. The more we meet people, the more we are lonely.
After dark, when our senses enhanced and our sensibility shone through, we fought this feeling. Either in colorful dreams or by celebrating our inner fire. Bounded, to this group, my core felt a resurgence of completeness. It was exhalating and liberating at the same time.
Just as the intangible movement of satellite, some of us chose to show our adoring feelings by revolving endlessly around each other. Dynamics had its laws only bodies could grasp.
Others would resolve in mastering the graceful art of laughter. With sparkling eyes, wide opened mouth and bright teeth, everything was screaming : thank you, my friend.
But beginning to grasp our essence that night, was inexorably putting an end to it. Some thoughts are better voiced afterwards. In the meantime, we would try to stay in the moment, dancing our souls out to the enchanting melody we were all singing together.
A chant from time immemorial that was not requiring any knowledge but the sincerity of existence and the faith of an inherited permanence. We welcomed with us all the visiting ancestors rooted in our song.
The most noble ones came to us with a muted wisdom. I was fixated on their eyes that knew too much of the world. And when the feeling passed, they disappeared with the wind of dawn.
Only the trace of our flesh was engraved in the emptiness of their departure. I couldn't go back to experiencing our world as it was. I knew too much of its unspoken mystery. I simply sat down and contemplated the moving shadows surrounding me. They were still attracting lights, sculpting joy and contentment over all the beautiful visages composing a pantheon of good souls.
As the night had started with the sound of a laughter, I closed my eyes to the beautiful smile of my friend, in hoping that my confounding memory would fail me someday, and would merge a sound and an image together. That way, I would remember our vivid souls forever.
F I N .
photographic series | Vivid Souls
photographs + written poem | eloo.
release date | 2022
location | Taitung, Taiwan
copyright | All Rights Reserved
special thanks to Savi, Sakinu & friends for this post-wedding party.
- eloo.
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