The Face in The Videotape

The gaze is off
Focusing on the wrong thing
Who let this kid have the camera?
In the rental that we had that Christmas
Back when winter still brought ice
In the liminal space
Between one childhood home and another

In the background in the darkness
In the hallway of the rental
White, pale, wide-eyed it's horrifying
That smiling face
I couldn't see it at the time
But now this face
Calling to me

This is it
In looking backwards
In my despair I finally found it

Through the veil of memory
Through the veil of nostalgia
This face in thе videotape
Calling to me
Calling mе back home