Vellum

Kodak A116

I fold out the camera my grandfather gave me last April.

There’s dust in its creases so I take out a watercolour brush

from the paper mache pot and clean around its spools and pins.

Beneath the dust there’s a nameplate

which indicates how far to extend its bellows,

depending on your distance from the target.

But when I pinch the slider and fold the lens into the casing

to close it, it gets stuck. He’s coming on Sunday

for a roast, he’ll come up to my room to see the paintings.

I can feel a small metal something blocking its door

and after an hour of my thumbs slipping from the gap

between the drawbridge and the camera casing

I finally pry it open. I slide the bellows to the ten metre notch

and stand the camera in the light of the window.