Picture Perfect Family

Easter morning Nineteen fifties Black and white  Edged in gray Pyramid like Stepping stones Determined by age and height Reminiscent of the glories of Cleopatra Stand silhouetted within Easter’s sunny orbit The Ideal family with fixed smiles Returns the viewers’ gaze Light enters The shutter clicks Kidnapping the treasured moment Mom and dad Bookend eldest daughter Twin-like reflections of Younger brothers stand at mid-point Youngest daughter becomes The monument’s foundation Picture perfect in Easter finery Chapeaus are draped in crushed netting Brimming with bright flowers and multi-colored berries Suit coats hold crisp white shirts and striped ties Tiny purses dangle from wrists Fixed Colgate-like smiles Return the viewer’s gaze Commemorating, witnessing, rejoicing What is for who will come Shoulder to shoulder they stand Planets spiraling bumping, clashing Yet staying in orbit Generations may wonder At the story being told Does the little girl rue standing alone? Or is it her statement? Why not the oldest? Leaving the parents together? Must the brothers move glued as one through eternity? Will each find a place in the firmament? Will eternity claim the parents first? Will a younger moon precede? Frear not As Gods’s heavens circumscribe The position of the moon and stars. Creation’s order begets love and benevolence Tradition is reward and Source material For nature’s anomalies Every Easter it was our family tradition to take a picture of the six of us before church. It was often taken on the steps of our family home.