Hippie Photograph
I stare into the picture
with mountains pink
and grasses purple
my eyes glaze over
as I struggle to remember
a memory apart from me
one that I
never did see
all my pasts
cannot forget
an experience
I’ve never had
lakes like crystal
lined by cliffs of gold
expired and overexposed
by the elements of the sun
shot with one eye
lost in an ancient trip
while the other
fluttering, struggles
to come to grips
with the world it sees
and the one that is
outside the lens
smudged with faded pasts
and colors that existed
long ago
they don’t even make
mountains that color anymore
they don’t make memories
meant to endure
the passage of time
and the decay of substances
designed to trick the eyes
into remembering
the memories of another