Photograph
I am holding a millisecond of your life
pressed between my thumb and index finger
(by the edges! no prints on the photo!)
you stare up at me quietly, here in my hand
what do I do with you?
do I press you into a photo album
close the pages
hide the book in my closet where the moths will eat it?
do I tack you to my bulletin board
or tape you to the wall beside my bed
so I can see you every morning?
do I paste you into my journal
next to a poem about another lover or
maybe an essay on dancing?
do I frame you and hang you above my mirror?
do I slip you under my pillow?
no-- I tuck you into my back pocket and take you with me
your person may be as mortal as mine
but this you--
this will live forever
-MWE
7 July 2000
