Picture Out of Memory

This poem is about Ruth Molloy when she was "very young / But old enough to read" and found a picture of herself and her siblings. Her mother had written on the back that Ruth was the child who was a troublemaker and a handful: "The girl on the left side is self-willed and wild." Although it made her sad at first, it appears that she learned to love her rebellious nature and her free spirit: "Wasn’t she a trouble-maker / Obstinate and free / Obstreperous and impudent / And me, me, me?" Yet her mother always favored her brother, who Ruth calls her mother’s "fair sweet boy."

"Picture Out of Memory"

Once when I was very young,
But old enough to read,
I found a photograph
That made my heart bleed.
For I turned the picture over
And in my mother’s hand
Were words I could not read aloud
And wept to understand -
The girl on the left side
Is self-willed and wild,
The baby on the right 
Is a most attractive child.
But the boy in the middle
With the sweet, smiling face
Has wonderful intelligence
And sympathy and grace.
Now that I am older
I feel a certain pride
Thinking of the wild girl
On the left-hand side.
Wasn’t she a trouble-maker,
Obstinate and free,
Obstreperous and impudent,
And me, me, me?
Her girl was on the left,
Her baby on the right
Her boy was in the middle
Was beautiful and bright.
The girl was a wild one,
The baby was a joy,
Her heart was in the middle
With her fair sweet boy!