Together we glow
A poem, and the photo that almost got tossed in the trash
Writing is therapeutic on its own
but her words fear dying alone
Her ripples long to live in the sea
not in a sink
Sequester me
and I'll push the dishes outta the way
I fear the drain
but I’ll find the day
bend the light
make a prism
float up to the heavens
Her wind is a rhythm
carrying us back down to earth
passing through and giving birth
to one falling pixel of a rainbow
Find the sun
Together we glow
Behind the photo
Found a few ripples after a big storm. I almost threw this photograph away because it was too dark, but as I reached for the trash, I saw the word RAW.
I was still an amateur. I didn't even call myself a photographer, but I knew that RAW mode captures all the color it can – only, it's hidden in the file, waiting for someone to extract the light. I must have fat-fingered the setting on my camera, because I never shoot RAW. It takes up too much space, especially in 2006 when you had to delete a picture just to take one.
Subsequently, I was able to rescue the hidden pixels, so that even the darkest ripple could find the sun’s glow.
My employer at the time, United Methodist Communications, turned it into a motivational meme. It ended up going viral, several million impressions and shares … all for something that almost got tossed in the trash.