lenses (or, why i didn't take pictures in scotland)

lenses

i can't take pictures of this place.
not because my batteries are dead, even though they are;
not because i ran out of space (that would be a lie);
but because that sort of lens makes
this place look small,
when it is anything but that.

lenses make it look tame--
even mundane--
like so many wonders in this world
that are reduced
to mass-produced,
photos on walls, in living rooms.

have you even seen that place?

what weakness, what
human folly...
to diminish such ----scapes:
we scale them to suit our tiny minds,
and claim to have
captured their grace.

don't you know that such a feat cannot, and never should, be achieved?

i can't bring myself to do it.
so,
i don't take pictures:
i look without lenses,
i see the place,
and write this to share instead.

b