Photo of Grandma

Photo of Grandma

Because it’s almost

the only photo I have

of her, my grandmother

is always holding a teacup,

always wearing a light colored

dress with a thin black belt, always

standing to the right of her larger

shadow and the shadow of a ladder-

back chair on the muted wallpaper.

Was she about to fill the teacup,

or put the teacup away?  She has

stopped to look at the camera,

with a smile that balances the

sadness in her eyes, as perfectly

as the porcelain cup in her hand.

I could always see my Dad and

three uncles in her face, but now

I can see my cousin Kim, too—

whom I once barely knew,

but now I call my own.