behind the camera
earning my skin
i shoot the pretty woman
haunted by flat eyes
that no adjustment
of lux nor lumen
can revitalise,
plushly enclosed
by the blue velvet glove
he substitutes for love
velvet cloaks the iron fist
only revealed
in vicious punch and shove
blue for the bruising
on inches of skin
shrewdly concealed
by sumptuous satin he
tenderly cocoons her in.
from my focal point
as the shutter clicks
aching to anoint
scabs and scars, relics
of the sister’s conflicts
with him … and herself
the photographer’s journey
via negative and darkroom
witness this unequal tourney
through negatives and dark rooms
to metamorphosis in kodakchrome.
is everything worse in monochrome?
we should ask paul simon
if shades of grey are necessarily duller
perhaps they’re safer than technicolour?
@ayeshakajee is a storyteller, poet and rights activist whose research on governance and democracy in many parts of sub-saharan Africa has been published in various media. Her research interests include post-conflict transformation, socio-economic renewal and gender and environmental rights. She writes because she can’t not.