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The Face I Never Knew By Jessica Gail Lawrence Copyright 2000 Jessica Gail Lawrence

A poem about the writer's thoughts of her mother as seen in an old photograph.

I found a photo of you mom, lost in a book when I was cleaning out your apartment after you could no longer live alone,   You were sitting on a bench with your two sisters, Ida and Becky. You were young, and beautiful, your face filled with expectation. Your eyes were soft brown, the color of your hair. your skin, pale perfection, wrapped around delicate bones framed in a brimmed hat.   You wore a sailor blouse, the fashion of the day.   The back of the photo read, "Ida's graduation, 1932."   That was long before you met and married the men who would change you.   One, a pharmacist, whose Yearbook said of him "he wouldn't give a goldfish water." The other man, my dad, women said was "handsome and charming, hid his violence in our speechless walls.   You didn't know about your future that day sitting happily with two of your sisters.   How I would have loved to sit beside you on that bench. we could have talked about dreams, expectations and how to hold on to hope after your heart is broken.