Inside an old camera
Is a film roll
I cannot remember
When was the last time
We took a picture with it
What was the last scene
Captured on the film?
Left inside a tape recorder
Is an old cassette tape
Nobody’s opened it for years
When was the last time
We played with it
What was the last sound
Recorded on the tape?
The sweater I wear
Was a gift from my late grandmother
When I was in high school
For many years since my birth
She used to buy me pretty clothes
I now wonder
Has this been the last one?
After a chain of familiar repetitions
There is always the last
But you never realize it
Until much later
Because the last is something
You recognize only in retrospect
Only when it’s in the past