Smile for the Camera
23 July 2010 | Filed Under Poetry
Here is some more poetry from my third year for your enjoyment.
And people wonder why I don’t like having my picture taken…
Smile for the Camera
click – snap – whir
cameras, camera phones, camcorders -
stand aghast at the beautiful vistas,
the inspiring mountains, the sparkling rivers,
so amazing that their jaws drop like hawks,
to take in the borderless skies and
the trees slowly exchanging oxygen
crunch – laugh – shout
cameras, camera phones, camcorders -
shade their eyes against the glare and
suddenly four animals appear, hugging
and giggling, smiling beyond the summit,
too close to the cameras, squash ‘em with your
thumb or learn to look past them
Mom – Dad – Mrs. Potter
cameras, camera phones, camcorders -
can’t recognize what they can’t see,
take indiscriminate pictures of my family,
his family, our family, their family over there,
but check the memories – behind grand monument,
happy children, stressed mother, arrogant father,
you’ll find me
C’est – ma – vie
cameras, camera phones, camcorders -
all feature a young woman in my likeness,
even younger if it’s an old camera,
even older if it’s a new camera phone,
I am in over hundreds of photos around the world,
the nameless extra, a ghost on film
slither – slide – paper
cameras, camera phones, camcorders -
piece together their life-long efforts, their
masterpiece of film to pin down the ghost, the girl
whose face is turned every shot despite the angle,
despite the friends she stands almost aloof from,
here’s a leg, an arm, the curve of the face
carving – painting – photo
cameras, camera phones, camcorders -
merely the newest way to make a shadow:
once the face is captured, ever all is easy,
take the rest of the body, take the soul,
if the film is destroyed, the soul remains locked
away in cloth binders and old shoeboxes
eyes – soul – month
cameras, camera phones, camcorders -
fake beam at the world, but draw screams from bugs that block the wondrous view – without your
face they can’t control you, but when everyone has
a thousand pictures of you, your soul is divided into
thousands of pieces so small they shine like teeth
so smile
Comments
2 Responses to “Smile for the Camera”
Leave a Reply
Welcome
Subscribe
What Do You Think?
Loading ...
Camera phones are in great demand these days, i own at least two of them*.*
The troubling phrase in that sentence: “at least”