# #frames

3 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)

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

the black bottle kept  
just out of reach  
of those who fear  
my obsidian liquid

a toxicology report:  
deadly in large doses  
but taken with care  
the hurting heals us

sure, share a nightcap  
wince with me in pain  
we need this to sting  
no easier, knowing it

small sips are sweet  
deeper drinks, bitter  
stone fruit can’t mask  
a burning this intense

scared to let you see  
me like this — red eyes  
pierce pewter framing  
you want, no, need to

as the spirit fully hits  
there’s no stopping this  
            _drink._  
the cork is broken now

## [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.