where did my father find this photograph?
where is the spite, the narrowed eyes?
she was so beautiful in black and white. anywhere else, would i recognize that smile (is it like mine)?
was this before she died from making the best of it?
prehistory in tacked-up polaroid.
proof of a life nothing survived.
anger like amber, where they're fossilized. maybe i like the way it dulls the light. anaesthetized.
were we ever alive?
it's so cold inside the surgeon's house tonight.
