A young woman
Crept through the dense growth
Of the Amazon rainforest,
Her multi-lense camera
Stuffed into a deep vest pocket.
She froze, watching, as
A toucan
Hopped from a tree branch
To a hole in the Awarra tree’s trunk.
The bird’s nest.

A branch snapped,
Barely audible in the
Croaks, chirps, and growls,
Of the Amazon.
The woman gazed
In the direction of the noise.
A lynx
Prowled through a tangle of fern,
Barely glancing her way.

All around her,
Creatures
Of every shape, size, and color
Went about their daily activity,
The woman simply
A small blip
In their routine lives.
Everywhere she looked,
A perfect opportunity glared back,
But, overwhelmed,
She was unable to photograph
Any.

But then, without a sound,
She removed the camera case
From her pocket,
Switching lenses and twisting dials
With the delicate fingers
Of an expert.
Turning it on
With no more than a quiet
Swooshhhhhh,
She peered through
The narrow viewfinder,
Waiting…

A small, yellow butterfly,
Frozen
As it danced
Through the tropical air.
An enormous mushroom
Perfectly positioned
In a colorful,
Rectangular frame.
Image after image
Trapped in time.
The last picture,
A woman,
Camera in hand,
Smiled with pure delight
At the perfect opportunities
Of photography.
Stuck
In the miniature
Memory card
Of a piece of machinery.

The camera softly fell,
Landing on an
Insignificant
Little bush,
Lushly green
And covered with salty dew.
Tears.