April 23, 2016Cuernavaca, Mexico
Here I am in the photo, pigtails
tied with mini silk pom-poms,
left hand on chin,
shoes like pink roses,
my dress with a big bow
tied as if I were a present.
My brother, Jacob,
wearing his first fancy pants.
Behind him,
my mother in her white dress
on her wedding day,
her smile as big as an upside-down rainbow,
full of color and joy.
Next to her is my dad,
the two of them like turtle doves.
Three years later,
I imagine him
still as a marble statue,
still in Mexico, waiting
for permission to return,
waiting alone
without us
like an abandoned house.
from 2016 RYPA