Absent The Senses

Pictures, they enthrall and transport
us with the drama of the tales they tell.
And tales they do tell, is that not what
the old adage informs us, that a
picture is worth a thousand words?
So in photographs that we value
as memory enhancements lest we
forget those captivating details that
we witness, there is a thousand-word
story, a verbose accompaniment to a
photograph of grace and elegance.
We appreciate the essence of what
it is we view, but in extracting those
thousand words are we party to a
summer afternoon abruptly transformed
to night? Do we hear that oncoming
series of thunderous rolls warning us
that a storm is nigh? Do we recognize
that lamps geared to daylight hours
suddenly burst into blazing light?
And can we see fountains of rain
hurled by the sudden presence of wind
lashing the windows we peer from? We
view the picture, a faithful rendition
of what the camera can capture in
emulation of human eyesight, a brief
instant of raucous drama captured as
a theatrical setting, spontaneous and
awaiting the forces that bring it to life.