“Big Camera”

Through a photographer’s lens,

and beyond our grasp,

is an ocean vastly resplendent.

Blink and pull through,

mother nature is shaping,

horizons in transforming view.

Deadly cliffs meet the shore

in sharp proclamation

gentle tidepool, a vessel for safety.

Nary, regard dusk,

watchful eye ever ready,

2 bits will get you time pass surely,

Oculus grand,

attraction for young,

throwback to old automation.

Landmark its front,

at the curb a façade,

known worldwide for generations.

Golden its gate,

at the site of the wake,

a feature familiar to many.

Still this shutter alone,

sits high Sutro throne,

aft of Cliff Houses now numbered a handful.

But where are the pools,

and where are the people,

the busses, the throngs from afar?

They’ve not made this trip,

they don’t know Land’s End,

or about the Camera Obsucra.

With daylight and mirrors,

the kind without smoke,

projections of all its surroundings.

Been here since the 30’s,

one for your history text, its technology’s aged more than 220.