Photographs

they capture the look on someone’s face
that they didn’t mean to reveal.
In that small moment that the shutter
opened, the forced smile melted into
an honest look of sadness, fear or boredom.
They rush to look at their picture,
assessing whether they look “good”,
quickly delivering a verdict as to whether
to keep the photo or not, pressing
me to hit the delete key.
I’d rather study the picture at my leisure,
looking for clues as to who this person
really is.