Camera-Shy

Here’s me in 1981
Squinting into a sinking sun
Ankle-deep in the Pacific
In the foreground are my friends
Grinning madly at the lens
They look heliolithic
Again in 1993
A Polaroid you took of me
In a long-forgotten loungeroom
A hand outstretched before my face
The nervous smile, the downcast gaze
I didn’t know myself around you
You seem surprised
And I see why:
You just realised I’m camera shy
So if it’s not too much to ask
Let’s just let the moment pass
I have no wish to be reminded
Of just how awkward I can be
Please don’t point that thing at me
Your eyes are widening behind it
You seem surprised
And I see why:
You just realised I’m camera shy