I pulled you from a bubble envelope
amidst a collage of the unknown,
sent all the way from
Greenwood Lake, NY county
stamped 10/11/17
value of contents in US currency
0.0 Dollars.
And there you were,
from the waist upwards,
in a four-inch faded Kodak square,
looking ever so smart
in a wine top and a
finely tailored white jacket.
I tried so hard to see
me in your face,
in the cut of your jaw
the shape of your nose
the thickness of your lips
the line of your teeth
the slant of your ears
the colour of your eyes.
You were wearing
big framed spectacles.
I couldn’t see your soul.
But I saw me in the wave of your hair
the width of your smile
the height of your cheekbone,
more than enough for one
whose hope had long worn thin.
Was it Before or After
I wondered,
so difficult to tell your age.
I framed you in Newbridge Silver.
It looked all wrong
so, I changed it for wood,
more suitable for the child
who came from Cnoic an Doire,
The Hill of the Oaks
and the woman buried
under the shelter of
an ancient spruce.
Every now and then
I move you from the mantlepiece
to the alcove and
then back again,
for to this day
I don’t quite know
where to place you.
Eithne de Lacy
Eithne de Lacy lives in Dublin, Ireland. She joined a local memoir writing group after her retirement from full- time work. Her writing to date has focused on the theme of her adoption at birth, and the discovery of her family of origin through DNA in 2017.
Cosmic Double 