Poetry Thursday

(Click me)

Lynn and her friend Liz Elayne have started a new blog called Poetry Thursday. The idea behind it is to get people interested in sharing poetry on their blogs. Some people are posting their favorite poems, some are posting their original work. On the site, you can find links to everyone who's participating along with other poetry links.

So, since it's Poetry Thursday and since I'm into humiliating myself in public, I offer you a poem, inspired by this picture.


What the Camera Saw

I want to take your picture,
he said, reaching out a hand to
touch her on this lonely hilltop
the two of them out for a picnic,
an innocent thing and now she
is standing naked and barefoot
among the thistle a clutch of ferns
held to her like a bride's bouquet
the cherry blossom of her nipple
barely visible Years from now,
when she is an old woman and her
body has begun to betray her in
terrifying ways she will find this
picture in a drawer somewhere
and she will remember the way
the grass felt under her feet how
the breeze moved over her skin
She will take in the curve of her
stomach the flat square of her
hips the dimpled knees and she
will see what the camera saw: a
girl, alone, on the verge of life
and she will think to herself:
Yes, yes I was beautiful