When I was just a little girl
someone took of me a picture
placed it up high on the wall
and let it gather years of dust
so today I saw my picture there
at the age of fifteen years
saw my little baby self,
perhaps I was of age two,
clad in purple, and smiling bright
the love that shone through
I may have sat there staring
but only for a few minutes
before I walked away, wondering
how I could have made it.
I never was the perfect one
my sister was the angel
I never was the brightest one
my brother stole that title
the dog surpassed me in speed
though she died from that
I never was the greatest cook
Mother owned the kitchen
Dad was Dad, and that was all
at least all I could make of it.
so who am I in this family,
just a blank sheet to fill?
or am I merely a set of hands
to help with those awful chores?
How could that love that shined
from within that one picture
have vanished so quickly
within the time that I grew?
I wish I was old enough to know
how I could vanish in plain sight
of those that used to love me so.
Author notes
I tried to think of how i might feel if i saw a picture of myself like that, but with a harder life than that ive had.
A contest entry
- Photo Prompt by OldBear34.
1200 points, ended December 5, 2008, 9 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What do you think?
Comments
-
Strong, I always love looking at old pictures of myself (and all other baby photos) Really interesting piece (yes, thats good)
Sydney -
Great Write!
Your rhyming is so natural it is unnoticable! The flowb is great and your suppressed anger and pain shines through beautifully.
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