Maya Venters

The Photographer

Face half-obscured, she saw him seeing her

not how she wanted to be seen but how

she was. The heavy body held the frame

(hunched shoulders, linen hugging at the thigh)

exposing lights against the darks, small contrasts

of what she was and what appeared to be.

With each move closer, each lens changed, the gaze

peeled layers, like a lover, like a maker

discovering the details as he goes.

She let him do it: see her for an instant,

breathe too close, turn her face into the light,

finger the dial to focus his attention.

And she returned the gaze the only way

she knew, like the thing made, like the thing loved,

compelled to give some gesture of reply.

Maya Venters is a Canadian writer. Her chapbook Life Cycle of a Mayfly won the 2023 Vallum Chapbook Prize. She has published in Rattle, The Literary Review of Canada, and Modern Age, among others. Maya can be found at mayaventers.ca.