The Fading Couple Poem by Raj Dronamraju

We threw handfuls of rice at the fading couple
Already disappearing out the door of the reception hall and into a waiting car
Rice that didn't stick to a person but fell through spectres of a once discombobulated social scene and now lay on the ground

Keeping in touch with the fading couple
Like the lights flickering on and off in an ancient building
They are very real but only for small snatches of time
And where do they go and where do they come from?
Do they turn off for periods of non-existence?

Or do they live in another dimension open only to smug togetherness
The pair that used to haunt the gang I hang around with is now considered unverified and mythological
A false memory implanted by the immature exuberance of youth
We try to snap a photograph with them and the result is phantoms in the corner of the frame
Some call this a hoax, some call this growing up