Writing from Photographs

In my memoir classes, I often ask my students to use photographs as prompts to jog their memories for stories about the past. I also use photos to write poems. In the following poem, I used a lovely picture of my mother. I hope that you see the picture as you read the poem.
Below is a different picture of Mother. 

A Very Old Photograph

Shy with the camera,

she stands in her white sailor dress

one arm behind her back.

Her dark eyes, so much like mine,

glance right. Her lips shyly smile.

I wish I had known her then.

We'd have been friends,

going to pound suppers, singing

alto in the church choir.

She was loved as I was loved,

sheltered by Mama, strengthened

by her Papa's expectations.

How could she have imagined ageing?

Certainly not at fourteen

and looking so lovely.

She never thought she'd grow old,

lose her memory, and depend on me,

her daughter, to care for her.

              -- Glenda C. Beall

Lois Robison age 14