Polaroid Picture

A Polaroid picture,

That’s all it took for numbness to leave me,

For the chatter of ghosts to be audible,

And the thorns of the past to be felt.

A Polaroid picture of my mom sitting on a couch,

One of her laughing as our puppy licked her cheek,

The dog she once hated but grew to love.

Unbelievable that it has been a decade,

A decade since the final period was added to her story,

And she entered whatever infinity comes with death.

Through a photo many yesterdays return,

A melancholy smile forms,

A sheet of film holding the bliss of childhood ignorance,

At the tip of my fingers,

Within touch,

But untouchable.

The ghosts chatter,

The thorns pierce,

All because of a Polaroid picture,

Of my mom sitting on the couch.

Written by: Erick Carrada