I painted this one years ago   
From a weathered photograph  
It was a Christmas gift  
From a daughter  
To her father  
  
She was a young child  
When the photo was taken  
From the Old Trinidad Pier 
Of her dad and his crew 
On his boat down below 
  
She said they ate good  
Really, really good that year  
I imagined them eating  
Juicy butter-dripping crab   
For every meal  
  
She just laughed  
After the lean years  
Of cornbread and beans  
This was the year  
Their ship finally came in  
  
They didn’t eat crab  
They ate whatever they wanted  
Wherever they wanted  
  
And you might be thinking  
Of a working-class family  
That just came into extra money  
  
And you might not be wrong  
  
But I’ll ask you right now  
To think of this young child  
Enjoying her family’s joy  
And remembering it  
After all these years  
After the photo is faded  
Tattered  
Torn around the edges  
Asking an artist  
To give that sweet memory  
Back to her father  
  
Now  
  
Tell me again  
When did their ship come in?