Faux Baby Snaps

When the kids were small

my wife bought a frame with

cut-outs for baby pictures.

She put the frame over the

changing table and for

the life of me I couldn’t tell

which kid was which.  I

knew she’d call me out on

this sooner or later so every

time I changed a diaper I’d

try to guess, Leanna?  Peter? 

Andy?  It was useless.

Then one afternoon, I came

home and she was removing

the sheet of baby pictures that

came with the frame and putting

in ours.  I must have gasped because

her eyes narrowed and she watched

me go into the kitchen.

Today, I saw a picture of my

son Peter as a grown man   The last

time I saw him he was getting into

a taxi on Soi eleven in Bangkok.  I

remember whispering then as he

left, “ I miss you already.”

That was years ago and today

I looked and looked at his picture

as I did those faux baby snaps.

I still miss him more than

words or poetry can say, but

I keep asking myself can this

be my son, can this be Peter?

FG  3/2/2014

A Soi is an alley off Sukhumit road. They are really roads, but started off as alleyways.