The bird perched atop
The tree, providing cover and contrast
A serene sight
The breeze just right
Sun’s light fading
Set my heart racing.
The bird stayed still
I aimed my shot
Everything a blur
Did I stir?

Another time,
Peering out of the train’s window
The vast expanse at the distance
Unmoving and constant
The hutments and trees nearby
Gone past in an instant
The paddy fields sway
The train, heaving and shaking
Cleaving the land, creating left, and right
Lens trained, light just right.
The frame, the moment, the click
What’s left behind?
A streak of colour
The train hurtled
Utterly unmindful.

Far too much time is spent
Peering through a lens
Seeking to capture the moment
Creating soft copies of memories
Sometimes to share
Other times to proclaim—been there!
Is reliving more important
Than living the moment?
Is memory so important
As to suspend the experience?

Is it not enough that the heart is drenched?
By what the eyes beholds
Is it too much
Or what there is, is finite?
And so must be saved for later?
Or that words fail 
By adding too much or too little
So must images be frozen?
And stories you tell
Cannot acquire a life
And grow as you do ?

Image: “motion blur trees scrub” (CC BY-NC 2.0) by Georgie Sharp on Flickr