a darkroom parable 
for prometheus  

worship begins with
a shut door
red air & a promise
to dip each other
in developer-- 
to be careful &
move slowly--
bring these ghosts
into being--
mother/father 
of brightness--
pulling bulbs from
the walls-- gifts
from god -- oh how
we are tempted
by light switches--
promise not to 
be naive like 
prometheus & to
pursue that which 
was never meant to
be ours-- 
oh what kind of boy
are you without
a ceiling over
your face?
this water was 
thick with body--
elusive camera memory--
i forget what
our pictures will
be of--
& there you were
as i developed you
& in the dark 
we exchanged names
& you pleaded with
me to stop--
to tear
windows
in the blank walls
to stop now
while fire
was still something
we could steal--
i wade into
the tray-- chemicals
up to my shins--
one step foward
into frame--
there me & you--
two strangers
on film-- the 
trees being born
for the first time
around us--
i ask you 
what they call 
you & you say that
you haven't got
there yet &
i say me either--
oh wait for the
world to become with 
me-- become 
stone benches & 
brick pathways & 
don't ask me for
windows-- we are patient
humans-- ones without
such marble fathers--
we bring each other
into being 
here in the darkroom--
your body a statue haze--
clay scooped from
the creek where we stumbled
barefoot as children--
got fish hooks in
our heels--
do you remember me now?
do you remember
the boy who had to
go home at sunset?
the silver lock
on his bed room door
& his scaly shingled room
we all wanted to jump from--
that's where they'll tie
me up-- call 
the eagle to swallow
my liver once 
we finally come into
focus-- isn't
that how it always ends?
tied to one's own
roof-- watching the 
vultures merry-go-round
high above &
someone will say something
about how they must have
found something
dead-- dead dead darkroom
lover let's not
leave-- begin
the pilgrimage home
to the negatives where
we can be small &
unknown &  wait
for a more eager
god-- i was
not ready for this--
i was not ready to stand
next to you 
in your jeans & 
wrinkled grin-- whose
brother will we be?
should he have stolen
us fire?
he-- yes i'm talking
about prometheus again--
i want to know 
if it was right
be for me to steal
you like this from 
darkness-- 
will you steal 
me if i steal you?
hold me up & believe
me black &  white 
& grey scale--
hide me from 
the eagles-- 
no we cannot have windows
not yet 
not yet
we must be silent--
let the darkroom
creep its hands over
our mouths--
don't scream-- this
is what it's like
to come into focus--
worship begins
with the sacrifice of
windows--
oh prometheus--
prometheus--
we scream--
stir in these
almost bodies--
there will always
be that impulse
to turn
yourself over
to the sun--
it matter only
who you become--
a girl-- ankle
deep in chemicals--
waiting for
dusk