Not in the picture

The person behind the camera feels left out.

Not in the picture


You bounce your son
and lift him above yourself.
A bird in flight.
The joy of the moment
revealed in legs strengthening
and eyes focusing on me,
a stranger in your midst.

A family moment
with mother folding clothes
and you with a beer
that your son reaches for
with tiny but persistent fingers.

I sit in awe upon the floor
and like a photographer
behind the camera
etch the moment in my memory,
saddened only by the realization:
I am not in the picture.


Kåre Enga © 2003

Catalogue number: [160.18]


Author's note: Based on a visit to a friend on March 27, 2003. If it seems sad, it is. Some of us who have never had children can be saddened by the joy of others, even when we feel the joy ourselves. This was one of the best moments I had that year.