Memory Saver

by Margaret Duda


My mother saved everything historical,
especially memories stored on photographs.
Other immigrants brought bulging satchels
filled with clothing and religious mementos.
Mama brought rare photos of her childhood.

I can see Mama as a toddler, a third grader,
dressed for her First Communion. Others
depict her foster family—parents, older sister,
and a theater group where her father acted.
She would point to each and tell me stories.

As a poor immigrant from a small village
in rural Hungary, Mama did not own a camera
until she got pregnant and bought a Kodak Brownie.
Others cried over World War II, but Mama said
we need photos to remember and saved moments.

I see Papa clutching me like a fragile infant,
wheeling me in a carriage with kewpie dolls,
helping me to stand, walk, ride a tricycle. You
can see me feeding chickens, playing with dogs,
holding a ball. A Kodamatic joined the Brownie.

Even in black and white, my blond hair turns dark.
I am seen wearing Shirley Temple curls, pigtails,
short permed hair, all styles adorned with ribbons.
The child in those photos would be another stranger
lost to oblivion if Mama had not saved her on film.

I am shown biking, canoeing, hanging from a swing
set, learning to swim, listening to 45 rpm records.
There I am in a Girl Scout uniform, skating outfit,
a prom gown my date admires. Mama missed little.
Others may scowl or squint, but I am always smiling.

On my fifteenth birthday, Mama smiles and hands
me a package to unwrap. I find a new camera and hear
we need photos to remember. The torch is passed.


* * * * *

"Memory Saver" is part of Margaret Duda's poetry collection I Come From Immigrants, forthcoming from Kelsay Books in May 2023

The daughter of Hungarian immigrants, Margaret is a poet, short story writer, author of many articles and five books of non-fiction, and is working on the final draft of a novel. A book of her poetry entitled I Come From Immigrants will be published by Kelsay in 2023. Her poems have been published in Lothlorian, Verse-Virtual, Muddy River Poetry Review, Silver Birch Press, Writing in a Woman's Voice, and numerous anthologies. She also worked as a travel photographer for ten years for the New York Times and has traveled to forty countries. She lives in State College, PA.