Racine, April 1977. A Polaroid with white edges. My Easter dress is robin's egg blue; it ripples against the church's red door like a flag. My father said it made my eyes look turquoise. He's not in the frame, but I know he's still alive and in front of me, taking the picture; not because I remember, but because the sky is dark and the March wind is whipping my long hair against my lips, bending the saplings next to the church, and yet I still look so completely, utterly unafraid.

Copyright © 2008 by Kelly Simmons