Ruth Walters (London, U.K.)

As a child, I didn't like photographs,
I remember seeing them
all lined up on the mantle shelf,
browning with age.

Do you recall the black and white ones?
When they fade it seemed to me,
the souls of the people fade too
and that scared me.

I'd never owned a camera
but a friend bought me one recently.
It sits in my bedside drawer
with its battery running out..................

I don't want my soul to fade.........