Lens Panorama

Snap!  The flash traps in time 
What elements dreams may bequeath, 
Etching onto the artist's landscape 
A visual seed, captured by ions of dust. 
Here at the mountaintop, 
The cool ledge of the canyon, 
The rhythmic shore of the lake, 
The warm cabin of the family reunion, 
The camera traces all segments of life 
Together, like some medieval tapestry 
Illustrating the story of a body 

In transit. 
 
Snap!  It aims for wonders aloft; 
Streaks of chemtrails, orbits of stardust, 
Embers of ash, mothers in sash, 
Pristine cascades trickling off the moss, 
Frolicking maidens in vales of goldenrod 
Watched over by flaming amber sunsets, 
Children offering flowers they found 
To the convex optician in the lens. 
 
Snap!  The shutter closes, 
Dissects the angles, captures the poses. 
The story of light filters through the aperture 
Cementing waves onto screens of permanence, 
Documenting all it knows through a sliver of glass, 
As if some neon eye had penetrated 
The refracted dimensions of time. 
Through the lens the eye sees beyond 
To that which is and that which is to come, 
Seeking troves of beauty that creation discarded, 
Desperately trying to make them its own.