2- White_Feather 
on Jul. 6 2007
3- Tracey on Jul. 6 2007
I understand and agree with the comments above. To them I'd add: I think it would strengthen the piece to describe, whether in detail or not, what's featured in the photo. Was it a group or a couple? Is the photo black and white or aged color?
Also - why "dumb?" Though any reader could fill in the blanks, I'd like to know your reason for choosing that word.
I also finding myself wondering why it would be important to remember more. Just because...? At the same time, I do indeed like the last stanza.
Just a few thoughts to consider.
4- Kzealy on Jul. 6 2007
Tracey, the first line says it is a color image. It is A picture of a small group, two couples in fact. The way I approached her at the time was less then graceful, and I was naive and inexperienced. I really felt a connection, but I just did not know how to be myself and relax. It's one of those things, I know my lack of knowing the right thing to do was the root cause of what transpired. I guess you live and learn, and yes dumb or insensitive is the right choice of words for how I acted then.
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No one Can make you feel inferior without your consent.
No one Can make you feel inferior without your consent.
5- Jen on Jul. 6 2007
The awkwardness of coming of age is a very relatable topic. I like what you created here and how you re-captured those feelings through a snapshot.
My only suggestion would be, remember her name. Most people don't forget the name of their first crush, love, kiss or experience. I think it would make the piece stronger if you gave those feelings a name.
6- Kzealy on Jul. 6 2007
Here is the quandry Jen.
First I met her at a junior college near my home town, so she does not live there. I do remember she was from Seven springs NC and was raised in a children's home.
Second its been 35 years for christs sake.
All I have is the picture, I never kept the letter.
Short of getting a copy of the yearbook for that year Its not likely that I am going to put a name to a face, and that is if she had her picture taken. Now we are getting into stalking here and its a bit creedpy.
I remember details about her, and that is part of what is frustrating. If I can remember the details, why cannot I remember the name?
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No one Can make you feel inferior without your consent.
No one Can make you feel inferior without your consent.
7- Anstey on Jul. 6 2007
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- stephan
8- Kzealy on Jul. 6 2007
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No one Can make you feel inferior without your consent.
No one Can make you feel inferior without your consent.
9- Jen on Jul. 6 2007
Well, since you can't remember her name your piece is very factual. You could lie and pick a name to enhance the piece, any name will do. I'm thinking of a southern name like Caroline or Suzanne? You could always leave it as is but now that you've explained the story behind the poem, I want to know her name.
J
10- Kzealy on Jul. 6 2007
And as an additional comment, she was not well endowed, but it didn't matter to me.
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No one Can make you feel inferior without your consent.
No one Can make you feel inferior without your consent.
11- Laura doom on Mar. 24 2009
I think the 'dumb' attribute is appropriate in the sense that she is not 'speaking' (her name -- in the present). The problem is that 'young' obviously relates to the time captured in the photograph, although that is presumably how she's remembered.
"...she was not well endowed...": was that distracting? Or was there another diverting characteristic -- false teeth? Baritone voice? Ok -- it's the angelic, momentous face of opportunity. Jen's boobs were obviously underrated. Did I get that right?
Like Jen, I'm wondering why the event was 'stale'; it doesn't sound unmemorable ("first sensual closeness", "exciting beginning", "feelings decimated"), and the final stanza suggests that the memories are stalking the writer rather than having been consigned to "a ragtag scrap book".
Anyway, good luck with the exorcism kz; not sure why it's so important, but there are obviously unresolved issues hanging in that picture 
12- Zealy, Kee - being an ex auditor and DBA any other names are unprintable on Apr. 1 2009
It is a bit of an exorcism and an event that was traumatic when it occured, and more or less forgotten until the picture fell out of the scrap book. Like any sort of repressed event, it resurfaced and questions immediately surfaced, like why can't I remember the single most important human attribute, her name.
No one Can make you feel inferior without your consent.
1- Leanne
on Jul. 5 2007
Photographs are odd. They are not real -- the moment that occurred when the photograph was taken never occurs again, but is distorted by our memories as we superimpose other moments both real and imagined. I think that's why they make such an interesting motif in poetry -- one single image that stands for so much more. Your poem got me thinking about all the people whose names I can't remember, and I have a fairly good memory, so I started wondering how we choose the things we keep fresh in our minds, because it's certainly not always due to liking them. And even if we forget the small details (like names), we almost always remember humiliation and pain -- I suppose that's a survival trait, trying to ensure that we don't make the same mistakes again. I'm sure it even works sometimes
If only, indeed.