your tiny hand unravels and the ornament hits the ground with a crash
you cry as you miss the tree by a mile,
Mom hurries to clean up the glass.

An aunts arms imprison me, protecting my bare feet
skin unscathed by the problems of the world
It's baby's first Christmas again.

Years pass and now we're under the stars
you lay in a tent, shadow bunnies hopping all around you.

My face is invisible but my voice is loud and clear,
High pitched and delicate as I take Dad's camera and begin to narrate.
Old enough to tell my own stories now.

I try to cross the damp wooden log, mountain water flowing below me.
My voice goes silent and the screen goes dark with a sudden splash.

I walk down the stairs, you smile and Dad films.
His camera has now been replaced by a handheld mirror of technology.

My dress flows past my ankles, my date appears at the door
A new voice has entered our house and our lives.
Parent interrogation fills my prom night and my cheeks fill with color.

I laugh and I grab the remote, I find the luminescent arrow with a line adorned below it
I eject the CD but download the memories into my mind forever