Taking A Picture written ‘In Synergy’ with “Rise Above” by Jeff Muzerolle
I am not so bad at taking a picture or two. I spend days trying to capture the rain with my iPhone.
I am a faux photographer. The true artists own cameras. The phone rings
and rings. It keeps the answering machine busy. The messages are recorded while I
am busy. I like to take pictures instead of the afternoon rain and spinning feathers in
the wind. I get back to the messages and
I return the calls. Instead of taking pictures,
I get back to work to make that money last.
When I need a break, I take pictures of the
world I see outside. The mountains appear to stand still like some painting. I see them with snow.
I see them with clouds above them like a veil. But most are brown. There are birds that fly in a
circle over the parking lot of the local Ralph’s supermarket on Vermont Blvd.
There are people far away that look like ants. I take their picture. People live in boxes all around
my building. The rent is too high for them. They make the street their home. They are home just
across the street.
Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal was born in Mexico, and currently lives in California and works in the mental health field in Los Angeles. His poetry has appeared in Blue Collar Review, Escape Into Life, Mad Swirl, Spectrum, and Unlikely Stories. His poetry books and chapbooks have been published by Kendra Steiner Editions, Alternating Current Press/Propaganda Press, Poet’s Democracy, New Polish Beat, Deadbeat Press, Pygmy Forest Press, and Rogue Wolf Press.
