The Man with the Zoom-Lens Eye

when asked about the incident,

the man with the zoom-lens eye

will clear his throat

while his shutter

clicks and goes into spasm.

the haziness of
snapshots
in a shoe-box.

the man with the zoom-lens eye
scopes out
all we would conceal,
the enlarged pores,
dry scalp,
bloated veins of drinking.

he won't
relent or repent
nor will he judge;

he hasn't the

time

or

megapixels

to spare.

the man with the zoom-lens eye
suffers barrel distorion
and purple fringing
at full telephoto,
rendering you something like
Grimace from the
old mcdonald's commercials.

you'd cringe and pay not to see it.

the man with the zoom-lens eye
has a great silver delete button on his solar plexus
and he presses it constantly,
though he cannot lose
the retinal imprints that
flash like fireworks
in his dreams.

he will moan in his sleep,
try to
pray them into the dark.

the man with the zoom-lens eye
rejects government contracts daily
not so much out of scruples
but because he neither likes not treasures
the shots
and would find it loathsome
to collect on them.

on university place,
I saw the man with the zoom-lens eye

and made a point of saying hello.

he focused and said

"I've already forgotten you."