Cricket Lee

SELF-PORTRAITS

i take photographs of myself
in the shower
water washing over my shoulders
a cleansing caught in still
it’s sobering,
humanity saturated
in droplets
you begin to understand
yourself better
when you are forced
to take an artist’s eye
upon yourself
you begin to understand
that flesh is unimportant
unsubstantial
as the water washes away
the dirt
the lens catches vulnerability
in black and white

—from Rattle #20, Winter 2003