a. The speaker is the poet Shirley Toulson. At the moment, she is looking at an old photograph mounted on cardboard and reflecting on the scene it captures. b. The photograph shows the poet's mother as a young girl, along with her two younger girl cousins. They are at the beach, standing in the shallow water, and smiling at the camera. c. The two girls are holding the hand of the big girl (the poet's mother), possibly as they have entrusted themselves in the safer custody of their elder cousin. , guidance, or simply as an expression of their close bond and family togetherness. d. The girls' ages are not explicitly mentioned in the poem, but the mother is described as "the big girl — some twelve years or so," suggesting that she is around twelve years old. The two younger cousins are likely a few years younger than her. e. The poet, Shirley Toulson, is the daughter of the mother shown in the photograph. The two younger girl cousins are the poet's aunts. f. The meaning of 'paddling' in this context refers to the act of walking or wading through shallow water, typically at the edge of a beach or river. In the poem, the girls are paddling in the water at the beach, enjoying a leisurely and carefree moment.