I have filmed you standing straight on bikini beaches

I have filmed you standing straight on bikini beaches
Slender as an arrow through my heart
And watched you bend to kiss the one you love,
The tender touch of lip to cheek.

I have seen you hit by trucks
And rise to catch a falling child in each hand.
You have lifted aged bones above sharp rocks
And placed the frail on waiting pillows.

The view screen shows
That years have softened the edges of your penetrating gaze with spectacles
While you still, mysterious medusa,
Can turn my strength to mush.

I shot pictures of your smile
Engraved inside my skull where I see it when I close my eyes.
I have observed you living through telescopic lenses from great distances
And for years have held your hand without touching any skin.

And if I had arms that could stretch that far
I would bring you here from throughout your ages,
And lose myself in all your landscape:
The camera lies abandoned on the floor.

~ by reeven on April 28, 2009.