Exposure

I am sitting in the park, camera at the ready
I am a vampire preserving that which should be fleeting

I am at home on this side of the moment

A man stares at me for a long while and smiles
I pretend not to see him
feign disinterest

He takes a careful drag from a cigarette and I focus the lens

blur the edges
adjust the light
steal his image

embalm this moment

Reviews

[Devons]

The photographer as "a vampire preserving that which should be fleeting" is a great concept; defining such a person in a way like some predator with good intentions..
The poem really does 'capture' the essence of an artist as an outsider, and, rather like a photograph in itself, depicts the nature of the photographer.
"I am at home on this side of the moment" ..This line has a subtle, but powerful resonance. It makes one think of photography as an implement of time, and something which human existence and even the photographer cannot hang on to: and therefore the anticipation of capturing such a moment is reassuring, if not secure. A mechanical thing can do this, yet an organic, sentient thing cannot. It shows also how an artist can freeze time somehow and redefine the beauty represented by the image - and evoking the impression of this moment in life that we do not always recognise at the time. And to "embalm this moment" represents everything that such an art-form exists for and can achieve which the human mind alone cannot sustain beyond memory. And, like embalming itself, preserves something which is dead and gone from the moment it is captured.
A really compact, concise and intelligent representation of the art of photography and its relationship to human life. It is the essence of a photograph depicted in words; the words in themselves provoking thoughts and impressions in much the same way an image itself does. Good job! ;)

[paul]

stolen moments... i like.

i really like the 'vampire' line
and the next one.

[FJ Davis]

To me, the camera is a poem; poems often attempt to "embalm this moment"--as well as focus on "that which should be fleeting."
Very well-written camera, Elizabeth. I think it clicked.

[bob, small b. aka invs]

i've read quite a few of your poems today. all are dark and spare and amazingly well done. putting photography in the terms you did here is something quite unique and skillful. it's finding gems like your writing that makes wandering about the cafe here worth while.

[Mr. Revan]

I can visualize this, moment, preserved forever on film in time.

A single man, a stranger, plastered onto a piece of synthetic material, held in place by magnetic film(unless you've gone digital haha)

His image is forever shadowed into my mind now, it is quite strange. I think for tomorrow I shall draw this man, and preserve my mental image of your poem forever in an artbook.

[Robin]

some primitive tribes believe that cameras steal souls , they at leaast capture the moment in another dimension

[Fran Marie]

blur the edges
adjust the light
steal his image

embalm this moment


This brief write encapsulates the theme quite nicely
I also liked the vampire concept in the lead in stanza

Great Job on this onE!

[Sweet_pale_cacophony]

Oh!..i like this a lot.These words so very simple to the eyes,yet so very sharp and they flow with such ease.I love that line..'I am a vampire preserving that which should be fleeting'..i am still wondering as to how i should analyze this line.To me it would be a person containing herself before she can leap on to a moment which she can capture through her passion of photography.I feel that line was very original.I like 'embalm this moment'..:) and Elizabeth you have embalmed this moment in our minds too ,with your words.

[Ladysue]

This was so unique and clever really. Excellent phrasing in this...

blur the edges
adjust the light
steal his image

embalm this moment

Oh, and the title is perfect!

Good work...

[Chloe..Across the Unive..]

Native Americans say when you have a picture taken it steals a part of you..
So being as a vampire in the sense of taking pictures would be like sucking life from the subject.

Really like this ..

Chloe
xo