it endures

in young age,
he would lead,
she would follow close behind.
she would lean against his firm shoulder,
feeling secure underneath his sure stature.
he would take care of all duties non-domestic;
she would flawlessly cover the domestic ones.
he would strongly make the major decisions for the family,
always backed by her encouraging words,
and filled with plenty of her input, of course.
he was the leader of dinner conversations,
adding in witty and charming comments and making her laugh adoringly.
he took care of her-
she was safe in his arms.

in older age,
she leads,
holding out her hand for him to follow behind.
she masterfully handles all household duties
and makes all decisions-
without a complaint.
she leads all dinner discussions,
carefully repeating important comments to his silent ear.
she takes care of him-
he is safe in her arms...

and although she is now his caretaker,
she still leans against his sure shoulder;
he still grabs her hand with love.
he still makes charming comments,
and she still laughs adoringly.
a proud love still shines in her eyes...

because she'll always be safe in his arms.

unfocused

taking pictures,
she's frustrated.
she sees the moment,
knows what she wants to capture,
but never turning it out quite right...

the lighting is rough,
the focus is all wrong.
all she wants is to portray life-
the life she loves.
the life that is hers.

she soon begins to realize
that these failed pictures,
these pictures that could never amount to anything-
are real.
the blur of the lens

is everything she has been searching for.

I'm starting a project, "Unfocused: A Photo Series," because the unfocused, minimal quality, imperfect and outcast pictures are... who I am.

This is real. This is me. Won't you come along?

*Click the Unfocused tab in the left column for my growing collection

life

as she walked down the streets,
she breathed,
taking in all the smells around her...
the smells of dying cigarettes,
fresh bread,
sweets and perfumes.

she opened her eyes,
seeing the slow,
wonderful pace of the people around her,
the simple enjoyment of everyday life,
the humble, hard-working spirit ingrained into the society.

she perked her ears,
and heard the sounds of children laughing,
of melodic sentences in French tongue,
and of musical smatterings mixing together from musicians housed on different street corners.

and as she lingered slowly,
she felt an urge.
an urge to stay...
to appreciate life,
to grab hold of the rich culture,
to open herself up to the sincere happiness of these people.


and she began to live...

France brought her to life.