Shootings

I am to write a poem (15-25 lines) based on a photo or film still. The only rule is I mustn't write explicitly about feelings.  I chose a photograph of John Lennon and Yoko Ono taken in New York four months before his assassination, as it reminded me of hearing about the news at my daughter's first birthday party,  and her distress at being photographed.

August 1980

Caught offguard on an empty sidewalk,

On the way into a Brownstone apartment,

Yellow cab kerbside,

He stands, one hand on his hip

One draped over her shoulder.

He faces the camera,

Eyes behind tinted glasses.

A roll is shot for posterity.

December 1980

Newscasters around the world, 

Tight-throated, white faced,

Read headlines printed in black on white:

John Lennon Shot Dead.

The gunman aimed for notoriety,

Shot him on the sidewalk

Outside his apartment block.

Four bullets in the back.

As the news comes on the radio

Shocking our disbelieving ears

My daughter's staccato cries

Echo like a siren throughout the house;

She arches her back, will not sit still,

Refuses to pose for the camera

At her first birthday party.

No shots are taken.

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