The Route to Better Vision

for Michel

Like brothers
We share a predisposition 
And have together embarked
On this unlikely quest
For enlightenment at
The noir end of the spectrum

Approaching life and work
As an open book

With camera and pen 

Ever at the ready

To record the ramblings
Of an old homeless man

And truly what a gift it's been

To discover this route
Through your camera
To improved vision
Well past the midpoint in life

When my eyesight
Is only diminishing
Yet you've brought

Clarity through

Transposition

Into a new key
Opening vistas I had
Never before imagined
Or seen

Spry and lively
As you are
Prancing forward
And aft of the old man 
As he ambles
Along the boardwalk
And down the supermarket aisle
With your hands quick and steady
You capture each angle of vision
Through your lens
While I stumble and hurry
To keep pace
Jotting down a few
Quotable things
Best as I can 

Writing such as mine
Would seem interstitial and plain

Without your lush colored pixels
To flesh out reality's frame

 
* * * * * * * * *

This poem is for my dear friend Michel Delsol.  Michel and I are currently writing a book together entitled The Life and Times of Richard Musto, which is about a remarkable World War II vet we met living on 28th Street.  You can follow the progress of our collaboration on our new blog at:  http://richardmusto.blogspot.com.


Here's one of Michel's pictures of Richard, taken in front of his home and storefront on the street shortly after we first met him last summer in New York.