free writing, photo festival edition

shoot, 2012

in this one i'm smiling because here you are reflected
in the lenses of my sunglasses i found on the lawn
at a student manif in montreal
and here's your lens from nikon that you love
more than any human being.

in this one i'm walking, a little blurred
my head bent, pushed forward, a few wispy whites
showing, my frown only half-showing from the height
you're watching me as you would a child;
in the corners of my eyes - a black shadow.

you said i was playing all along, but i see a shiver
start from my lip twitch and gallop down the collarbone
i said you were hiding all along, but what else
could i have said, it was part of playing.

you said it in pictures and i say it in words
and the meaning of it floats over the spires:
it's in the distance between us that my beauty flourishes,
tries its wings a little, then withers with the light.