EDITOR’S NOTE: This poem was inspired by a true story. At the time it occurred, I owned an active portrait studio. One service we advertised was the restoration of old photographs. I was with a client in my camera room during our busy pre-Christmas season. An iron-clad rule in my studio was that no one interrupted a portrait session except in an emergency.
My daughter, also my receptionist, entered and motioned for me.
“You need to talk to this lady," she said.
“Can’t it wait?"
“No, dad, she’s in your office. You need to talk to her now."
I excused myself and went to my office.
My poem tells the rest of the story:
THE TATTERED PHOTOGRAPH
By Marty RicKard
She sat before me
wrinkled
gray
a tear upon her cheek
Her head was bowed
her eyes cast down
she could barely speak
Her husband of half a century
had taken glory’s path
now all she had were memories
and one tattered photograph
She looked up with beggar’s eyes
and asked so tenderly
Can you repair this photograph
It means the world to me
For fifty years I felt his touch
now death’s torn us apart
This photograph is all I have
to ease my aching heart
I fixed the cracks across his face
and brightened up his eye
and when she saw the photograph
she could only cry
How much
she sobbed
It matters not
I’ll pay any fee
I only want a smile
I said
That’s good enough for me
She squeezed my hand
and paid her bill
and in a solemn tone
she said
my husband’s picture
is the dearest thing I own
The months slipped by so swiftly
I saw her now and then
and every time
she took my hand
and paid her bill again
Then one day
she passed away
and I went to say goodbye
but when I saw her lying there
I couldn’t help but cry
A gentle smile adorned her lips
and on her lifeless breast
they had placed that precious photograph
—it was her last request
Stocks and bonds and diamond rings
she left to fade away
She only took
the dearest thing
on that final day
Yes
she took that portrait with her
into eternity
and with that special photograph
went a tiny part of me
And each of us must ne’er forget
who share this precious craft
that wondrous thread of golden love
we weave into each photograph
Marty RicKard Bio
Marty RicKard attended William Penn College, Iowa State University and University of Southern Mississippi, from which he holds a BS degree in journalism and photojournalism. He also has a Masters Degree in photography, in addition to the Craftsman, CPP, and A-ASP degrees. Marty spent two years as a technical writer for White Motor Company, and has worked for the Charles City Press, Mason City Globe-Gazette, and Davenport Times-Democrat. He was owner of the weekly New Sharon Star, where he was twice named Iowa Master Columnist for his article, which was syndicated in twenty Iowa newspapers. For more than a decade Marty’s regular column appeared in the Professional Photographer magazine. He has been published in many other magazines and newspapers, including Writer’s Digest, Writer Advice, Golf Digest, Resource Magazine, Picture, Range Finder, and Darkroom. In addition to his writing credits, Marty has won numerous photography awards, has lectured in 48 states, and has traveled internationally as lecturer, and judge. He was one of thirty from the U.S. to participate in the first cultural exchange with China in 1986. He currently is a regular columnist for Lens Magazine, and a full-time writer of fiction and poetry. He is the author of two poetry books and one volume of short stories. He is an entertaining speaker. |
