Paper Memories

Nothing makes us cry or laugh
Like a paper photograph
Paper memories, what a treasure
Poring over them with pleasure
There's dear dad so long ago
Before his hair was white as snow
There's young Bud in his snow suit
My oh my, but he was cute
There's my school where braids were pulled
The old T-bird with gas tank full
Oh what memories, oh what laughs
In this book of photographs

There's the house of yester-years
Rooms that echo smiles and tears
There's the pump out in the yard
A splashing drink when work was hard
There's the family, prim and proper
And little Tom, the real show-stopper
Lady, the dog I well remember
Flaming maples in September
Oh, here's you, taken by surprise
Look at the fire in those eyes
And see young Charles, he looks like you
Way back in nineteen seventy- two

Here's a photo of my mother
Paper treasure like no other
I gaze into her loving eyes
And hear her distant lullabies
Dear Lord, sometimes I feel like sighing
Life is short, there's no denying
Help me treasure every smile
In thankfulness, walk every mile
So I can cherish by-gone stages
As I fondly turn the pages

Paper memories, paper treasures
Think I'll take an hour of leisure
To sit awhile, to cry and laugh
And linger o'er each photograph
I'll thank my God, through smiles and tears
For every loved one through the years
And someday others here will look
At my photo in some book
They'll speak of when I passed away
I wonder what else they will say
Will they thank God and cry and laugh
As they look at my photograph?

This poem was a finalist in the June 2009 poetry contest