Coffee rings on Formica tops
Regulars swap graveyard shift lies
Ketchup stains on folded maps
Grease smoke rises, disco fries
Pine needles catch the flash bulb pop
Telephone wires hum old jazz
Developer burns the midnight stop
Negatives hold what light lets last
Aperture stuck at f-stop two
Viewfinder fogged from fryer steam
Focus pulls the birch bark through
ISO four hundred, dead dream
Pine needles catch the flash bulb pop
Telephone wires hum old jazz
Developer burns the midnight stop
Negatives hold what light lets last
Winder lever jams on frame twelve
Thumbprint smudges on the glass
Tree sap drips on wooden shelf
Time exposed on expired pass
Pine needles catch the flash bulb pop
Telephone wires hum old jazz
Developer burns the midnight stop
Negatives hold what light lets last
Darkroom smell in grease-stained jeans
Fixer bath and short-order grill
Silver halide knows what darkness means
Latent image bends the developer's will
Contact sheet shows power lines cross
Black spruce silhouettes at dusk
Grain structure reads like memory loss
Chemical ghost in stop bath's husk
Pine needles catch the flash bulb pop
Telephone wires hum old jazz
Developer burns the midnight stop
Negatives hold what light lets last
One more frame before the developing's done
Exposure line to morning sun
Shutter clicks. Coffee's cold. Film's done.