Snapshot Land

Snapshot Land
Sylvia Kantaris

In Snapshotland everyone is happy all the time.
It is the promised land where people sit with flasks of tea
On smooth sand by a flat sea and smile and smile and smile.

The sun shines all day long and every day in Kodachrome
Or sepia on sandboys and sandgirls who never
Stop smiling from the time they first appear, with buckets,
In crisp, gingham pinafores and nonnets on the sea-shore.

Lovers stay in love forever, married couples never
Grow tired of each other; everything is always just right.
The dolphins know exactly when to leap into the air
And stay there for the permanent delight of passengers
Aboard the pleasure-boat which never passes out of sight.

Nobody in Snapshotland grows old unless they want to,
Judging by the way they go on smiling so, in deck-chairs,
On the beach, or in old-fashioned gardens with lavender
And grandchildren here and there - and no one dies, ever.

Even if they don't appear later, the people are still
Always there, smiling through the lavender and dolphins
And the buckets full of pebbles on the same sea-shore.

I picked this poem as it makes perfect sense. In real life there are hardships and suffering everywhere you go. But in the world of photos everyone is smiling as though
there are no troubles at all. I feel that the world of photos would be a wonderful place if I could live there, with no worries, no concerns.