Graham Mort
Photographic Memory
1.
The footpath trails on beyond her
Into the brightest day;
Just a grey trace of cloud,
Stray leaves on the grass, though
It is early for them to fall.
The dog is blurred, like a genie
Metamorphosing into solid air.
She stands: a hand on the fence,
A hand on the walking stick,
Her cheeks bitten by wind,
Rinds of mud peeling from her shoes.
2.
I remember the holiday, not this place:
All week the sea was high and grey,
Gulping our footprints from the beach.
A tea-room somewhere?
Apple or pear trees behind,
The cups thin and white as bone;
A check tablecloth, cores, crumbs.
The light is good, the shadows strong:
Her feet are clutched by them,
They eclipse her eyes like burnt moons,
And she is smiling.
3.
This light is too bright, coming
From the wrong direction.
Propped up in bed, it takes away her face,
Melts it into the white day outside net curtains.
Wisps of hair, everything misty;
An open book across her legs,
The clock stopped at 2.15, though
It ticked on over the hours and years.
A sixtieth of a second, f2.8, - no depth -
And blurred, the whole thing blurred,
As if my hand shook.
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