c.2009 Lori Clevenger

theres a box of photos in my mothers closet
i went there looking for my dad
i never found him but i found a picture
that someone had torn in half
all that was left was a faded image
of me and mom when i was five
you could tell someone had been beside us
but someone tore him from our side

i wonder what he looked like
was he there when i was born
i want so much to see the entire picture
but so much of it is torn

i know when he was young he served his country
his pension paid my way through school
but mama never liked to talk about him
and i observed her silent rule
but i have freckles, and a certain cowlick
i have a dimple when i grin
ive never seen these things in my whole family
could i have gotten them from him?

i wonder what his dreams were
and what he went through in the war
i want so much to see the entire picture
but so much of it is torn

i put the box back in my mothers closet
but i kept the picture out
mom just passed away and never told me
ill never get my answers now
the picture has one rough and three smooth edges
i cant know who was there before
hes just a phantom arm around us
all the rest of him his torn

i wonder why he left us
was there someone he wanted more?
i want so much to see the entire picture
but so much of it is torn

i want so much to see the entire person
but so much of him is torn