For a moment, I watch the snapshot
of a boy becoming a man. He is
smiling, one arm draped over a woman
with ebony skin and smile that explodes
with joy, the other is around a young man
who will be a marine tomorrow.

Tonight, they are still
children and adult. Tonight they only know
joy.

Tomorrow, the picture will be printed
They will frame it in a cheap $5 frame
They will stash it in their luggage to bring with them
to the future.

Someday, when I’m long dead, they will still remember
They will still look at the picture and smile,
They will never know, I watched them. That I was there
beside them.