What the Light Revealed

The DMV light caught me

under its glare,

my collarbone was stark and free,

white bone showing everywhere.

When did I become so thin?

When did my body start

to show what's within,

to show every part

of time?

The photo shows me worn,

shows the shadows that fall,

shows that I was born

into time's pall,

into aging.

The light doesn't lie.

My collarbone won't hide.

The photo shows what I

cannot run from—inside,

a map of my years.

I saw myself and knew:

this is me now,

this is what time will do—

make me visible, somehow,

make me clear.