A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Hey, quick,
take a snapshot, a pic
of the photographer
taking photographs -
pretty neat!

And so here I sit
some 35 years later
in my comfortable house
in my rocking chair with
the cushioned seat

I can hear the shutter click
I can hear the minutes tick
I can hear the background noise;
can see the weariness
in the eyes of the boys --

Hey, bro, take the photographer's pic
Better make it really quick
before we have to go -
[Why does the taking of the picture
seem so slow?]

What's the name of this place?
Dak To.

As if suspended in all of time
beyond all reason and beyond all rhyme
he stands up and braces for the shot -
closes one eye, clicks, likes what he's got...

he'll send it off for the newspaper at 5:00
somebody's mother will see her boy (he's alive) -
I wonder about the boy who had the photographer
within the camera's site -
I wonder where he is.
And after Dak To
was he still all right?

A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER

©Copyright April 2004 by Christina