thinking about the future

about the past

about my mother’s past

and hers

and hers

and hers

all the way back

the great grandmother in the tree

climbing in black and white

frozen forever in time on a sunny day

a teenage girl who loved poetry

like me

like i used to be

one day my daughter will look at an old photo of me and think

“a teenage girl who loved poetry,

like me.”

and this day will be gone forever too

unless we care enough to save the photos

save the videos

i take them anyway

in case my ancestors

become archaeologists

and want to study my life

which is their life

like i study my great grandmother’s life

because it’s my life too

•••

10/9/23