A Photographer Looks Back

For all those who’ve been captured by my camera lens, I wish we could do it all over again. But time waits for no one despite what we see, In images made of you and me. In the snap of a shutter or the blink of an eye A memory is frozen like tinsel in time. Shiny and shimmering like diamonds and pearls Each one a treasure, immeasurable world. Yet never to last beyond dawn’s early light As the picture of now is an illusory sight. To have and to hold like water in hand Hasten photographers to do what we can. To coax, cajole, position and prompt People and places to do what we want To fill up our cameras with just the right touch – Never too little, never too much. With just the right color, right texture, right mood – A slim slice of life that says what, where and who. In a gathering of pixels of zeros and ones, Technological marvel mixed with light from the sun. And oh what a ride I’ve had by your side Be you stranger, family or friend, Throughout the years of trying to make clear What’s moving like clouds in the wind… People, places, flowers and trees, Sun rising and falling on rivers and seas. Small creatures and features of wood, sand and rain, Sky scrapers and ruins of ancient remains. The famous and infamous, lost and found; The good, bad, beautiful and perennially profound. Healthy, wealthy, humble and weak; Down and out with nothing to eat. But your smile most of all is my favorite frame; Vignette of your memory, your life and good name. Etched now in the hues of bold colors and grays With gratitude I have you to reflect upon today.