I Go Back to May 1937

In this poem by Sharon Olds, she is looking at a photograph of her parents graduating from college. She talks of their innocence and naiveness, unaware of their whole life ahead of them. She urgently wishes to warn them against a potentially disastrous relationship. However, she knows that her warning would bring about quite a predicament. She would not exist if it weren't for her parents dysfunctional relationship. Even though her parents suffered because of their choices, she was born to write and tell of these events. She wants to save them from the sad situation but she makes the selfish choice of life as opposed to her parents happiness