exposure (a poem)

as the Photographer
sees something
     perhaps a
     young couple
     or the way
     that the sun seems to
     drip
     like golden water through a tree

as he
     or she?
raises the camera
to eye level

as she
     or he?
peers through the
viewfinder
and adjusts the
focus
and steadies the
camera
and
ever so slowly
presses a
button

as time
s
l
o
w
s
down

as the shutters tremble
and
     for a split second
the tremors of the earth
are halted
and captured
in a still
image

i run
     unaware
through the frame
outrunning the shutters
my mind elsewhere
out of step

click.

i am caught
between the tremors
with melted features
and no identity

and yet
somehow
i have never
felt
more
     naked