INSTAMATIC by Noel Williams As if
stepping from a there I couldn’t
imagine, into a here I
dare not believe, fronds of
willowherb head high unclasp –
she dazzles. Wishes drift
around her, aureole of seeds. Only a
photo. 35mm. Square. Shotover,
Oxford. Summer, ‘73. The blonde
of that bright day is pale now
as onionskin, her hair
fused into the stalks fused into
the paper fused into
forgetfulness. My memory of
the photograph is stronger
than its memory of that hour. Sometimes
she smiles for me but I see
the photograph, now the
wishes flower. "Instamatic" is the First Prize winning poem in the Sentinel
Literary Quarterly Poetry Competition (January 2010) Top of page | Poetry Index | 