Undeveloped Love Poem by Stephen Parker

I focused my sharp lens

on your lovely image

My mind shuttered

snapped in ecstasy

the brilliant flash

captured your frame.

Afterwards,

as the image developed

into a grainy shroud,

but a duplicate

of the lovely parts

etched in my mind.

Through the delible lines

and the pixelated dots,

a deep imprint

of an endeared hand

that had stenciled

over your warm heart

his signature.

Still,

brandishing the negative

with its dark contours,

and the unfiltered light

of jaded dreams,

tracing the smooth curves,

caressing the tight grooves

of a still life form,

whose heart was bleached.