Confined to a 3x5

I love photography but there comes a time when we must contradict ourselves.

They peer with one eye closed,
Pausing moments in time
But confined to a 3x5.

I let my eyes scan panoramas
Two views blending and blinking as a snail moves.
I absorb life inch by inch,
I let the second hand tick
And only a memory glued to my brain.

I empower my eyelids to adjust shutter speed
As they seem fit to behold land and seas.
I deposit a Polaroid with sounds and scents into my mind
Instead of albums that whither away with worldly rust.

I see an image instantly through this hazel pair,
Rather a darkroom to cringe from light.
I’d prefer to dilate with the sun;
Hold a midnight gaze without a flash.
I’d rather fall asleep and rest my gift
Than clean a lens and charge batteries.
To look left to right and up to down
Without the movement of a hand,
Would only seem natural to me.

I’d rather be an intricate map of veins and vessels
Just two pupils to perceive a world
Than smoke out a view with just one eye
Adjusting and zooming
Confined to a 3x5.