I look for a picture of myself
so I can picture me as you do.
flipping through the photographs,
I look for the one that will explain
me to me in a language I can understand.
Eyebrows, noses, hair and ears
of generations parade before me,
sepia print, kodachrome grey, colours and all that
dangle a key about me, an interview
in my spare time on the family radio
—speak to your ancestors now Ward—
fumble to the microphone, mumble
“hold on a moment, there’s a picture here
that will explain everything, just let me find it.”

Advertisement