Poetry by Joplin Finfrock. Finalist in the 2018 Manuscripts Poetry Contest

Finfrock, Joplin

English

Digital Commons @ Butler University

122my perfect picture: youjoplin finfrockDark rooms, amber lights, blue cyanotypes.Sharp fumes fill the room with a yellow hue.And you were there hiding in the negativesLike an undeveloped glossy print.I dip you in, corner first and then immerse.White. Deceiving shadows come to life.Were you to arrive or did I do you wrong?A faulty flash, stutter of the shutter?Overexposed from the very beginning?Then it happens, I begin to see the harsh darks in which you were born.I toss you around in the pool of my developing feelings.Your edges arrive, pearly white border lines.Take your time. Fill in the black and whites, grays with no grain.Then stop. Bathe in your everlasting contrast.A crisp clear image of my newfound happiness.fpoetry contest f nalist i123But you still need a final coat, a glazeso fixating, the shine could hypnotize. Gently, I lay you into your finalization. Watching you sink in the chemicals.I take you and hold you in my hands,yearning for a beauty I cannot grasp.But I forgot how fragile your print is, how sensitive your surface. My eager fingers slide over your shiny face, and for a momentwe are one. As soon as my wrist jerks away, I realize my touch is there to stay. Me and you at last.A smudge of charcoal black, the ringsof my identification, permanently staining the whites of your skies. The oil of my skin, spoiling you forever.g

My Perfect Picture: You

https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4686&amp;context=manuscripts

My Perfect Picture: You

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Digital Commons @ Butler University