Photos of Grandmother

Photos of Grandmother David J Walker Grandmother has become a picture That so few of us know Things committed to memory Fall short A black & white print Is creased across the face of the fading image And even a perfect recall Of the last summers eve Shelling peas one evening On the screened-in porch Can’t replace all of what we thought We knew of her Mosquitoes were singing and Fireflies were dancing Kamikaze moths were the true believers Flying into the 40-watt light What hymn was Grandmother humming But the picture hadn’t the slightest idea And the answer was lost At the cost of Distance and time It seems Grandmother was a young girl once with Her own unspoken dreams Or so it says on the back Of a photo found in the bottom Of a box where she is held captive and expressionless at age 15 In the picture she seemed to be waiting to grow old