IN CAMERA

Colours parakeet bright flood the print.

Background a bouquet of shades and shadow.

Focus sharper than a cuckold seeking proof.

But that’s not her. Surely?

She’s taller. Younger. Less round. 

Camera puts on pounds. Blurs

the silhouette she knows is there.

Dulls confidence to tarnished brass.

Turns her self-image monochrome.

Zoom in on the eyes;

a different picture develops

where the field deepens to infinity

with many more secrets than pixels.

Steals the soul, tribesmen say,

but that’s wrong: it merely eavesdrops,

ready to pass on the gossip

to anyone who knows how to listen.