The Nocturnal Stacks · April 17, 2026
The Forced Remake
This came to me after a day that felt off in a way I couldn’t name, until something small cracked it open.
There’s a melancholy that settles
When the mind sees
What the body once allowed.
Now the body is a prison
And the mind it’s captive company.
A forced remake is never a joyful change
And only usually filled with
The loss of what once was.
It creates a void that can’t be filled.
There’s an ache that’s felt
Bittersweet and memory-laden
Of joining with the world
Camera in hand
Experiencing the search
Of capturing that one sublime image
Only to realize that image
Was now a memory of a time
When the body wasn’t a prison.
The force to have to remake
A bitter pill to swallow
The mind allowed only to remember.