I leaned forward to put my quarters
into the slot. The directions said Hold Still.
Look Straight Ahead. Smile. (I did not.) Soon

a strip of faces fell out of the wall—
all mine, one after another, and none of them
what I wanted. That was back when my eyes

were green; that was back when my hair was still
dark. I needed one of those photos—it
didn’t matter which—for a rail pass that

would last all spring. And the rest of the strip?
I threw it away. Too bad! I could use
that face—that earnest young face—today.