Greyhound tires kiss wet asphalt
My Pentax hangs from calloused palm
Archive doors unlock the vault
Where ferns and film share steady calm
You tend the ferns where microfilm sleeps
I count the frames my camera keeps
Basement blooms in sodium glow
Developing what we both know
She trims the fronds with surgical care
Microfiche breathes in humid air
Her apron stains with soil and time
My shutter clicks in rhythm rhyme
You tend the ferns where microfilm sleeps
I count the frames my camera keeps
Basement blooms in sodium glow
Developing what we both know
She offers me a clay pot seat
Where spider plants and negatives meet
Her fingers brush a dried leaf edge
I focus close on dusty pledge
You tend the ferns where microfilm sleeps
I count the frames my camera keeps
Basement blooms in sodium glow
Developing what we both know
Negative strips hang like drying herbs
Contact sheets bloom beyond the curbs
Silver gelatin, chlorophyll
Two runaways rooted still
Morning pulls the shade cord tight
Archive closes, fades to white
She presses cutting in my hand
Roots take hold in foreign land
You tend the ferns where microfilm sleeps
I count the frames my camera keeps
Basement blooms in sodium glow
Developing what we both know
Film and ferns together grow
Basement blooms in sodium glow
