The Photograph : Forgotten Ghosts
Had I not come across this faded photograph
I’d never have remembered
Standing on a pavement with my mother
And some chains.
I’d never have recalled that I was there.
...the date is written on the back
Scribed by mother’s fine and lovely hand.
Who took the picture..I will never know.
Paris ...in summer clothes.
Small mother..I don’t remember her like that
Perhaps it was a hill..?
She’s slim..and carrying a bag
I’m tall and thin.. wearing a cardigan ..
From Biba.
It was maroon...
How did my mother feel that day..
About my company..?
She looks so pocket size
As though I have reduced her..
She wanted sandwiches
I wanted lunch.
Par-ee Mama..Par-ee..we must be... a la Parisienne ...!
Perhaps I was above my station.
...a day that’s past... it fades away
The image almost gone
The picture ..transitory as life itself..
Is disappearing
The chemicals biting... one into the other
Soon ...We’ll be forgotten ghosts...
Kristine Byrne...Nov. 2012