“… I have already lost touch with a couple of people I used to be.”
Joan Didion, Slouching Toward Bethlehem
dear joan,
i thought of you tonight when i saw the photo of a dark, moody mountain
with a foreground of rust-red grass,
over them both a gleaming sun
empearled in a stormy sky
i don’t recall where in the world it was
nor the girl who took the picture
and what she was at the time
whether her heart was dark like the mountain
or red as the grass
her mind stormy as the sky or pearl-bright and glowing
i do not remember her face
or the sound of her laughter
her particular fears or foolish hopes
i do not remember any of it
yet i suppose it must have happened
and i suppose
from where i found the photo
that the girl who took it
used to be me
