My Father only Sees in Black and White

when my dad pulls out the photo album

it's like he grows another set of lips

"there's Dolores she must

be only five here and that

must be Ethel my how she looks

like your grandma and ooh there's your

grandpa playing his guitar the way he used to

in the days before the war" / but when he flips

to the back / sees the picture of me

(I'm five years old / a laugh in a dragon

costume and a pair of 3D glasses)

he cocks his head / scratches his scalp

and can think of nothing to say