the mountains

never move.

the bridge

never moves.

the river

never changes course.

every day i struggle

because the photo

is the same.

the view on my screen

looks the same

as the day before.

i hear criticism

never spoken.

complaints

never sent.

why do i even do

what i do?

why capture the photos

that i do?

maybe there are enough

captivating pictures for you.

maybe they need my same words

beneath those photos.

it’s normal to expect a leaf,

a cloud,

or a shaft of light

to change.

the mountain never moved.

the bridge never moved.

the river never changed course.

why do i ever do something

if only ever so slightly?

then one morning

i looked again.

the mountain

was the same.

the bridge

was the same.

the river

followed the same course.

i finally understood.

i wasn’t returning

because the scene

had changed.

i was returning

to see

if i had.