Who was she?

old woman portrait vietnam three tamarind m’nong

I was rummaging through the attic
in the filth, searching for some documents
old memento, toys and games of our antic
brown faded photos of our descents

I found an old photograph of a woman
she was beautiful, I save it as my keepsake
lines on her face tell us experience she’d done
her eyes conveyed her joy, hope and ache

an enigma, seducing me to deconstruct
I can feel her wraith in my zone
enlightening me of proper conduct
her past mistakes to atone

her alexithymia makes me want to express
something she wasn’t able to do
perhaps she was in distress
if only I could have a cue

like colouring her life with crayons
through the convex lens the search
looking for truth, spending aeons
thinking of it as my research

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

For: Photo Challenge #136, Wordle #126 “October 24th, 2016”