Three Poems

Camera Obscura
Edinburgh 1874

High in the tower there is a room
and in this room there is no light
but from a vast white shallow bowl,
and round its rim the people watch
a woman outlined on the dark,
holding a shaft that reaches up
into the roof, to the great lens.

They are unsure what they will see,
but open to enlightenment,
as this city has always been,
letting the gleam of the pale face
guide them in shadow, trusting her
to show them how the magic works,
the reason in the world's wonder.
...