Todd Swift often writes persona poems, for example, as
Emperor Hirohito or as a girl who has frozen to death, and in this case, as a
wedding photographer. This poem spoke to
me as a representation of the lonely act of writing poetry. Swift once said that he sometimes sees
“poetry in terms of cinema.” This poem
is like film in motion. Knowing about
his background as a screenwriter, I can’t help but notice the cinematic
qualities of this piece. I believe the
images at the end are what make the poem, with its leaps and cuts into
seemingly disconnected images that build on the original image of the lonely
photographer.
-- Greg Santos
The Wedding Photographer
It is a private, lonely thing
To do, gathering new pictures
Of delight. I take photographs
That build their album, the looking
Backwards, developing beauty:
Their standing, happy, just married
No one sees me on my own bed
Later, rehearsing a vision
In which a white dress lifts then falls
With the sequencing of seasons,
Just and ordered in what happens
As fire, that takes a forest down
As dogs will a stag, cannot know
Vows future-arrowed, as cut skin
Shows the purple all wear within.
Editor's note: Greg Santos was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. He lives in New Haven, CT. You can follow Moondoggy's Pad, his blog about poetry, literature, and pop culture, here.










