Christina A. Sharik

A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Combat Photographer Hey, quick,
take a snapshot, a pic
of the photographer
taking photographs –
pretty neat!

And so here I sit
some 35 years later
in my comfortable house
in my rocking chair with
the cushioned seat

I can hear the shutter click
I can hear the minutes tick
I can hear the background noise;
can see the weariness
in the eyes of the boys – –

Hey, bro, take the photographer’s pic
Better make it really quick
before we have to go –
[Why does the taking of the picture
seem so slow?]

What’s the name of this place?
Dak To.

As if suspended in all of time
beyond all reason and beyond all rhyme
he stands up and braces for the shot –
closes one eye, clicks, likes what he’s got…

he’ll send it off for the newspaper at 5:00
somebody’s mother will see her boy (he’s alive) –
I wonder about the boy who had the photographer
within the camera’s site –
I wonder where he is.
And after Dak To
was he still all right?