A friend told me your news,

            They showed me a picture of your gown,
  
                                   ...

                                  You married him, wearing the necklace I gave you.

An old man sat,
With another man young.
And up rose the old man from his chair,
In search of something found there.
From his pocket fell an old leather wallet,
And from it and older picture.
The young man picked them from the floor,
For the old man could bend no more.
And asked, the youth did,
Why, my elder, do you keep this ***** slip?
And responded the old man did,
For, my child, I remember not my beautiful wife anymore,
And there you hold her, and my child too.
The youth looked to the man, then to his wife,
Then returned the photograph.
Wise of you to keep her with you today.
Yes, my friend, it is

I went off to the capital,
For a weekend with friends.
My mother told me,
"Take lots of pictures!"

Well mother, I'm afraid,
My camera can only capture so much.
Because there was no way for me,
To photograph everything.
No, I do not mean stone statues and monuments,
I'm talking about feeling.
A piece of film can't show,
Every shining memory of everything you did.
Midnight conversations,
Dinner debates,
Writing in graveyards,
Buying hats.

bending pictures to fit into someone else’s frame –
their life… is it not so beautiful from the viewer’s eyes
in some profound way, they must think of me in the
same kind of way

our pictures are stained,

with shame, pain, loss, hardships, desires, envy, bitterness
but you don’t know this of me… you get to watch the picture
while I painted all its vivid features
I don’t know this of you… cos I watch your picture believing
its much more unique – but you and I are pieces that are

                    incomplete.

I saw Mammy yesterday,
Sitting, smiling and relaxed.
Idling wasn't her usual way.

Then your Dad walked into view,
Lighting up, talking loud.
He wasn't comfortable in a crowd.

Nana and Bub shine in glorious colours,
As do the constant sisters and brothers.

There's Marlene tucked-in on the couch,
With an infectious smile that leaves no doubt.

Jim's feeling his cups. He's crying out.
But can't explain what his pain's about.

Da's holding Eucheria in his arms,
Pretending to water our dead brown lawn.

Sweet Maura teases with a sharp handled comb,
Sneaks in the side door when returning home.

Sister Sheila in heels gives herself a lift,
For without them she's about four foot six.

And Kevin my older rebellious brother,
Tells biker stories that made us shudder.

Sean has all the talents and skills,
With looks and smiles that really ****.

Gerald too had similar traits,
But dwarfed us all when he'd read and write.

They laugh and cry,
Smile and tear;
It's as if
They're all still here.
I captured each
On video tape;
Healthy, alive,
This side of the Gate.

Yet someone's missing from these scenes,
Someone who's rarely seen.
A Son, Brother, Husband, Da,
Uncle, Nephew,
And Granda.
That someone's Me.
Quietly filming
With my camera.

Living day to day with these images
In my head
They give me a feeling of
warmth
Of security
And most of all
love
These pictures last longer than
The human being
And outlast the stars
In the sky
So will my love for you
Let's share these photographs,
And make an album for the eternity

Two dark eyes
Like two drops of warm coffee
Lips so soft, taste so sweet
My heart skips a beat.
You look real in my dreams,
Unreal infront of me.
That smile might be the impending death of mine.
Or cure me.
I don't care.
Don't care of this height if I'm falling for you.
Don't care if I lose you along the way.
These fleeting moments are enough when I'm with you.
Let's not chase forever.
Let's hold onto the seconds.
Perhaps we should freeze time
Like the freezing air.
Still life pictures of moments.
Don't you disappear now! No!
Let me hold your hands once
In my trembling ones.
Before I let you go.

We've been apart
now for a while, and
the pain has begun to
subside. But today, something
triggered it all fresh
and sharp.

I ran across some
pictures of your
****** that you let
me have.
It makes me sad
to look at them
for hours on end.
I may be reading
too much into the
three different views,
but in one of them,
your dormouse seems
to be whispering,
"I miss you, Thomas,
we had so much fun,
you and I."
In another shot,
the light hits little Jezebel
just right (she loved it when I called her that.)
And I swear it seems as though
she is pouting like she's sad too.
And the third picture is
the hardest to view of all.
It's in black and white
so it has that artsy film noir
look to it, like a sad French
mime. Quite artistic as far as
closeups of vajayjays go.
It has a fussy, pouty
look to it, with a twinge
of anger, as if to say,
"why did you break up
with that great poet who
idolized me, and took such glorious
pictures of me." It seems to be
beckoning, "Please take him
back, maybe if you do,
he won't drink so much and
disappear for days on end
with your car, and then come
back smelling of *****, and
old painted up ******."
It breaks my heart
to look at that one.
I'm almost crying as I write
this because Jezzy looks so sad, and
lonely, and a bit angry at
you for selling my collection
of baseball cards.

my friends are all laughing
and the weather has been kind
i am about halfway to happy

and it is okay if i look utterly
atrocious in every picture
you've taken of me

i hate my smile with passion
and almost all of the time
but i like to think that

my smile is most
beautiful and genuine
when it is mirrored

by yours