George Franklin

George Franklin’s fifth poetry collection, Remote Cities (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions), and a dual-language collaboration with Colombian poet Ximena Gómez, Conversaciones sobre agua/Conversations About Water (Katakana Editores) were published this winter.  Recent journal publications include: Solstice, Rattle, Cagibi, New York Quarterly, Tar River Poetry, and The Ekphrastic Review. He practices law in Miami and teaches poetry workshops in Florida prisons.  Website: https://gsfranklin.com/

The Angel of Sorrow Considers Photography

The angel is always surprised by photographs,By how willing people are to reveal their faces,Their slightest frowns, their lips holding back
A smile, satisfaction, cruelty, regret.  He watchesAs they open family albums, children in hot weather,Sunburned noses and shoulders, an old woman almost
As small as they are, a man who hides his eyesBehind dark lenses.  The angel wondersIf they believe the photos will keep them safe,
Whatever happens, that they’ll remainAt the birthday party, at the house in the mountains,Or climbing onto the bus.  How they want
To hold on to that happiness, the air they drink Thoughtlessly, unaware of the blue veinsUnder the skin of their palms, fragility of bone
And tissue.  The angel also listens when they touchBeneath their night clothes and blankets. He Hears the breath leave their mouths, the creak 
Of the bedframe beneath their weight.  He sees The imprint their bodies leave on the mattress.  This is also a photograph.

George Franklin

The Angel of Sorrow Considers Photography

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