Found a camera on the harbor rail
Leather case cracked like my thumbnail
Thirty-six frames where the seagulls cry
Expired roll from ninety-nine July
Salt and silver on my fingertips
Harbor wind steals light from paper maps
Dusk develops what the lens forgets
One frame left before the shutter snaps
Salt and silver on my fingertips
Regulars joke I'll turn photographer
Eggs go cold beside the register
Mrs. Chen orders coffee black as tar
Says the view's the only thing we are
Salt and silver on my fingertips
Harbor wind steals light from paper maps
Dusk develops what the lens forgets
One frame left before the shutter snaps
Salt and silver on my fingertips
Frame counter frozen at twenty-two
Advance lever sticks like grill grease used to
Opera sails glow pink in the rear view
Ferry cuts a line through harbor blue
Salt and silver on my fingertips
Harbor wind steals light from paper maps
Dusk develops what the lens forgets
One frame left before the shutter snaps
Salt and silver on my fingertips
Case smells like onions and old diesel
Viewfinder fogs from my breath steam
Focus ring turns smooth as a waking dream
Shutter clicks soft as a short-order scheme
Film sits quiet in my grease-stained coat
Waits for developer I can't afford
Harbor takes the light I thought I caught
Morning comes and develops what I fought
Last frame winds tight on the take-up spool
Click sounds like a ticket bell at noon
Walk back to the grill wipe down the stool
Eggs hit pan beneath a rising moon
Salt and silver on my fingertips
Harbor wind steals light from paper maps
Dusk develops what the lens forgets
One frame left before the shutter snaps
Salt and silver on my fingertips
Salt and silver on my fingertips
Harbor keeps the rest