Camera Lucida
You know it was easy
the way he demonstrated it.
That prism—so fine!
The image came senseless
and swam into a split vision;
subject above, shot of the hand
below, as it traced out
a masterpiece.
Camera lucida, to show us where
we have been, and why
things didn't work out
so well. The split image
that carved up life; on the one side
what we imagined,
and on the other
reality.
© george wicker 2006
First published in Pulsar magazine, 2002