The Lying Camera

THREE WORD WEDNESDAY

http://www.threewordwednesday.com

we were asked to use the words in blue

THE LYING CAMERA

They say the camera cannot lie, but I know that it can.

I've seen it fabricate whole lives since my long career began.

I've known them come to my studio, immortality in mind,

Wanting, when they leave this life, to leave a photograph behind.

They trust me to make a picture of a happy family,

Something that their descendants can pin to the family tree.

I've seen a child look sullen and terrified as well,

And the cause for its unhappiness has not been hard to tell.

Father is a brutal man (see that bruise on Mother's cheek).

She is rather cowed and shy; I hardly hear her speak.

I set up my equipment; the child's on mother's knees;

I tell them all they must be still; everyone must freeze.

The child is moving slightly; the Father's looks could kill;

'God Almighty. Gertrude! Can't you keep the little brat still!'

'I'm doing my very best, Arthur!' That's Mother, looking  strained.

She tries a timid little smile, but it looks rather feigned.

I dive beneath my 'curtain' and then I count to ten.

I think the child was moving so I do it all again.

They leave the studio, satisfied, that I've fixed for all eternity

A perfect picture of family life, and dominant Paternity.

*

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THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

'Get rid of that tree, Mum!'

That was my son speaking.

True the tree is past it's best,

Straggly and creaking.

Although the leaves so far above

Cast a lovely shade

It's not a thing of beauty

In some lovely  sylvan glade!

*

'I love that tree against the fence'

That was Pam, my friend.

'I love the way the branches

Seem to gently curve and bend.

I love the Oriental look

Against the new bamboo.

If you should chop it down I know

That you would spoil the view!'

*

This is my 'new' garden,

Not wild as it once was,

But I find I like the new look,

And, partly, that's because

I have a straggly, past-it tree

That, who knows why, appeals to me.

*