Sally Mann, this is no Candy Cigarette
The child on stilts is blurred out and rises up, not fully in the frame
(we have all been the oblivious child, the one that got protected)
another with hands on hips gazes after him, muscled brown arms at the ready
(maybe we were the Sassy Girl, alert, but back turned)
The photographer chooses the Tough Girl with a direct gaze
(is it exploitation if this is your own child? She has seen it all)
Pretty face but haggard; all-too-knowing
(hair tousled but framing her face just so)
Wearing the ruffled sundress of a much younger child
(arm snugged down to keep it from gaping)
Cigarette held expertly, this is not a pose
(Incongruent wrist watch – who needs to keep time?)
2 thoughts on "Sally Mann, this is no Candy Cigarette"
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like Sally Mann’s still life
this ekphrastic piece
exposes us to the fragility
of family – ours & others
Poet as photographer and vice versa. Love your observations here!