A Picture Poem by RIC BASTASA

a picture in black and white always brings nostalgia
for instance the picture of mama and papa
beside their daughters
named leonor with the pony tail
betty with the tiny curls
and delia
with her expensive smile
(she seems to frown in all the other
pictures)
and there was this bouncy, plump boy
wrapped with silky cloth
that mama held so tightly in her arms
as papa sat on a
big rosewood chair
like general mcarthur
not afraid of the war
his left hand inside his
pant pocket while
the other hand was holding
mama's waist
i know that boy
with a big smile as though life
is a big joke

that boy was supposedly
their only boy

it was me

and then ten years later
my brother came
i did not know why there was
no other picture
like that

a family, for the time being
let my brother
tell you

we are never close and i do not like
to tell the truth