Family Outing Poem by Dónall Dempsey

the old woman laughs
at the photograph of her

self
when she was 3

she waves a blur
that could be a flag

she is in pink
with a see-through pink umbrella

seahorses cavort
around its rim

she gnaws at the umbrella handle
teeth forcing their way through

(toothless now)

the train is
coming

to take her to
the rest of her life

that hasn't as yet
happened

the Diamond Jubilee
photo taken by daddy

the only clue to
the memory of who

she used to be