Photo-finish

An old daguerreotype photo
New York City…circa 1853
Bowling Green…the “first” patch of grass…
Skyscrapers still incubating
Children, apparitional in appearance, running after a dog
Man and woman in foreground pose in yesterday’s finery
I “hear” the dog barking,
The children laughing,
The Man saying
“Hold still…Agnes”…
My fingers caress tree branches devoid of leaves
A winter sun reflects off nearby windows…
I “feel” its scant warmth
Long demolished building…
Now catches my eye…obsolete, extinct
Tenebrous face peers out from bedimmed glass…
Fingers upon surface
Our fingers “touch” and the photo fades away…
Sanguine ink stains my hands
Agnes is dead…
The dog runs in history’s hinterlands…
“children”…no longer
Last sound from diminishing photo reminds
“‘t is 'your' image…we see
Not ours”