as a photographer I am asked
never to fear the darkness;
to sit in a room full of it
waiting for the crimson shadow’s
furtive resolution
into an observable scene,
a photon prodding an election.
as a photographer I stand alone
on a dark road in California
aiming my camera where the comet is:
NEOWISE becomes my child
as she reaches the horizon.
from some invisible dark direction
comes a panting
a sound of heavy breathing
a wolf
a death
a reason.