Kodak Moment

I gaze at your image
in that wrinkled old photograph
so much has changed,
yet your essence is still the same.

You are still beautiful.

Still that hesitant, but radiant smile,
that laughter behind the eyes,
but there is something else there too.

Pain, Loss, and Memories.

There is less innocence, less trust.
a wariness in your eyes that matches that in mine,
and i wonder,

Is it there because of me,
or someone else?

For me, it comes from you, a final, bittersweet gift.
reality is revealed to me at the cost of idealism.

There is damage on your picture now,
from water
and fire.
a fitting monument to what you did to me.
but though there is pain
and anger
i cannot get rid of it

For all i have of you now
is my old wrinkled, torn photograph