Rhyme and Reason

because I am old
you said

because I am young
I thought

because this is it
we knew

and you left
anyway

Of leaves

I was documenting our daily lives
with scientific precision
this is where we are
this is what we’re doing
this is the weather
I froze us in time

without a past
without a future
in the photographic present
we
were happy

at least that’s how I presented it

but in the snapshot of us
lying somewhere
in some archive
the voyeur was more sincere

it shows you

bearing the backpack I loaded you down with
struggling ahead
and making painful progress up the hill

and me
lagging behind
taking picture upon picture
of trees
and moss
and bark
and rock
and leaves
and leaves and leaves and
leaves.

The first temptation of the chairman

I am tempted to photograph
your empty seat
abandoned for a minute
in the middle of the day

I will pin up the picture
and familiarise myself with the emptiness
lest the suddenness of absence
shock me
into permanent silence
and a fear of chairs