The Picture Poem by maggie signaigo

I have a picture in my purse
by now it's pretty old
on the back there is a verse
and I value it like gold
just a tear-stained wrinkled photo
and some words no one can see
not a mantra or a motto
but they mean so much to me.

I know what was on her mind
when she wrote those words so clear
and at the bottom where she signed
the picture I hold so dear
never doubt...the bond between
a mother and her daughter
a love so real...so pure and clean
until the sickness caught her.

I found this picture in a box
with some notes and cards and things
personal papers and keys to locks
some jewelry and some rings
it caught my eye...beneath a note
I turned it over then I cried
when I tearfully read the words she wrote:
'Maggie and me...the year I died'