this picture, taken without a flash- poetry by John Rodzvilla

this picture, taken without a flash
The instructions said,
“Always use the flash.”
We thought five lights
Would be enough.
You aimed the Polaroid,
Which I gave you as a gift.
And shot.
I stood naked, covering
my face with my hands.
When the picture appeared
I was nowhere to be found.
We wondered if it was
the camera or me.
John Rodzvilla teaches at Emerson College in Boston. His work has appeared in Harvard Review, gorse, DecomP, Verbatim and Bad Robot Poetry.
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