On
Sunday, after the sporadic showers on the previous day, Shaun and I decided
that our plan to revisit the Yorkshire Sculpture Park was probably a bad one.
Therefore, Shaun suggested a trip to the National Media Museum in Bradford.
He'd visited some years ago with Scouts and believed it would be something I'd
enjoy. As is usually the case, he was right. It was a fantastic day: learning
about the history of photography, television and the internet; watching strange
video footage of acrobatic flies and Black Country delicacies; and taking in
the Magnum Open for Business exhibition - "the
story of contemporary British manufacturing and industry told through the lens
of 9 Magnum photographers." Here I found myself drawn to a trio of black
and white photographs by Stuart Franklin. One, a photograph of a wave
machine inspired me to write a poem and, although only an early draft, I
thought I'd share it.
Sea
Monster
This
mechanical whale does not harness
the
energy of the waves.
Instead
it rises in the storm's swell,
churns
and foams the waters further.
These
ribs aren't wooden groynes,
and
this wall of tissue provides no armour.
For
all worries form a cloud of plankton -
dredged
into the bowels of an unforgiving beast.
Thank
you for reading,
Lara