# #cameras

4 poems

## [photobooth](https://chromato.graphics/photobooth)

shoes stick to the floor,  
we wander past the bar  
into a dim red-lit lounge.  
pinball, locked door, you.  
you’re a seeing machine.  
pull your curtain closed—  
shroud us in secrets that  
end just above our waist.

tap on a train faregate,  
a beep reminds us that  
transportation isn’t free,  
a short trip still costs us.  
you’re a seeing machine.  
see what we’re made of.  
we’re trapped here now,  
we can’t hide from flash.

all whirring and waiting.  
don’t know how long ’til  
our capture, our release.  
we kiss from impatience.  
you’re a seeing machine.  
our mouths are blurring,  
hands in hair, bite marks  
in flesh. we have no time.

falling back into the light.  
was there music before?  
we lean against the box,  
we cannot lose contact.  
you’re a seeing machine.  
you take time to develop.  
wait here: a strip will fall.  
freeze us in four frames.

![Black-and-white four-frame photobooth strip of two people kissing.](https://chromato.graphics/_astro/photobooth.CBK1CijU_Z184ngP.webp)

## [violet](https://chromato.graphics/violet)

your aperture narrows  
as _f_ /our voices deepen  
sunlight burns through  
exposed cloth shutters

we made you to protect  
an us we never realized  
would be safe as she is  
it’s no decorative pansy

darkrooms reveal stains  
& splatters under safety  
lightbulb, glowing ruby  
our eyes don’t adjust yet

we have twins, don’t we?  
is it sisters, not twins?  
god, no that’s a different  
flower entirely — rosemary

## [wrist](https://chromato.graphics/wrist)

i clocked the watch once  
and wished its red hand  
swept across your face  
i knew i’d want the date

i saw the toy’s hallmark  
that predates its maker  
cupid’s bow pointillism  
it looked best in color

i slipped on a staircase  
tripped on slippery oak  
fell into a concrete pool  
cut and bruised joints

you caught me there  
held me — rubbed salt  
into my fresh wounds  
to heal and to hurt me

a thin black strap is all  
that holds back the sun  
when this camera falls  
it’ll leak light forever

three solid bands form  
an unbroken bracelet  
brass never gleamed  
until becoming a label

holding mine down  
against white silk,  
gray wool, graffiti  
it’s easy to go deep

## [camcorder](https://chromato.graphics/camcorder)

twentysomething object  
built to take a beating—  
recording blurry scenes  
to wound cassette tapes.

humming with precision  
opening up when pressed  
her red button worndown  
by many careless owners.

secondhand machine with  
new ways of seeing inside  
freezing a frame when it  
can’t take this much in…

an observation device for  
triangular dynamics that  
separate signal and static  
projecting what is actual.

a new lease on life from  
repairs to its internals,  
charging, maintenance, &  
importantly: regular use.