Worn

Carolyn Caines 

The sepia photo was found 
tucked inside a drawer.
It bore crease marks 
that could not be mended
and corners bent and frayed 
from her fingers 
that worried gently 
over his face and hung on
to the borders of her memory. 
But even more, the photo
had been worn out by her eyes 
​hoping for a glimpse of life, 
one breath of what had been, 
and a slight hope of remedy
for the forgetting taking place.