on finding a photo

on finding a photo

the photograph was stuck

behind a woodworm sideboard,

cobweb covered, halfway to the floor,

I licked my finger, wiped, and you appeared,

it’s you, as I remember you, smiling

sardonically, or maybe frowning

as you hated the camera - 

the picture gives little away

one eye is masked by a bang of hair

the other stares beyond the lens

beyond the barley field you stand in

beyond the sky - challenging me,

‘look away, coward, look away,

I needed you, cried out to you,

reached out to you

but you withdrew’

on the back a note,

‘darling, I love you,’

a hand-drawn flower

some kisses

I flicked the picture a second time

watched it flip across my desk

skim over the edge

out of sight

I wonder where she is now?