This is a photograph of me
When I believed in love.
See the softness in my eyes,
My gentle, wistful smile.

In these photographs I hold
The hands of those I loved.
So many faces next to mine,
Each one my “One True Love”.

Near fifty years of photographs
And none of nights alone,
The smiles belie the tears I’ve shed
When “True Love” ever died.

Near fifty years of photographs
Expose my myths and dreams.
All I have left is images
Of what l once believed.


© 2004 Dorothy Joan Riley