Awaiting the sunrise, my camera in hand
I silently ponder what drives me
From those dark quiet moments I now understand
It’s not pictures I want, but the memories

All the moments in time, looking back on my life
that were precious, but fragile and fleeting
That I now long to hold in more palpable ways
than in memories, ever retreating

Such moments define us, give shape to our soul
to the passage of life and its beauty sublime
People and places and things we hold dear
distant memories grown fainter with time

So I watch through my lens as the world passes by
patiently waiting for just the right moment
The shutter snaps open for the blink of an eye
and that instant is stopped and I own it

Freezing forever the second just past
one tick of the clock I’ve set free
I think it not theft, that one moment from time
from the millions times taken from me

For as long as I live or a little beyond
that stolen moment is cherished
While looking through photos, at faces and times
Until all those who knew them have perished

For time always has the last laugh in this race
to tangibly hold on to history
Once years have gone by, generations gone past
in a drawer it will sit, just a mystery

/g