"Just a second," the typical reassuring lie I spoke aloud

I stopped more frequently than I had been walking.

At first they would wait for me,

But after a while it was simply no use to wait for another person

Whose mind strayed- stuck in moments

Swept out to tide many waves ago.

Just you and the bird and the camera between you

Living in the past of those who could move on so quickly

To evade time in every sense of the matter

To soak up every last detail that I could grasp

To preserve it in my mind

For just a second longer through an all-seeing lens

To protect the images that others would overlook

But with each passing second,

There was evidence of change. 

Another inch of sand was carpeted.

The white foam of the ocean's everlasting waves

One grain of sand displaced among the millions

 

With mechanical eyes

I tried to slow the seconds.

From my seagull subject,

My eyes diverted away for a second

To witness reality slipping away. 

The bird which ensnared my attention too had taken flight,

And selfishly I attempted with every last mental effort 

To pull it back with the repetitious clicking of a shutter button.  

My visual subject could conform to time's compelling demands,

But mental painter sought a frozen instant for the perfect snapshot.

 

Change is inevitable.

Waves constantly alter the shape of the shoreline.

I must utilize change to my benefit to gain a better image,

To gain better perspective as a person.

Strapping my camera around my shoulder,

I managed to overcome the scene that I had contemplated.

I trotted my bare feet after my next tempting image.

This passion disconnected me from others for a moment,

But brought me closer to self-awareness. 

 

 No longer a lack of regard for the events of life itself,

To take pictures is to capture moments

To enjoy the still second of that window of life

To hold it in possession for as long as I would like

To contain the past in a fluid and momentous way

Not a perfect moment,

A simply imperfect one left to the decay of time

No longer indicative of a fear of change,

But a new embrace of change without fear

And willingness to move onto the next adventure

My personal way of appreciating

The balance of the past with the present

I remain passionate for each still to be taken.

I am ready to pursue new scenery in life.