camera obscura

In the dark attic
the neighbor's house
projected itself
on my wall

I watched as
Frank climbed
the ladder and began
taking off every shingle

Inside this box
I could see every movement
that he thought was hidden,
illuminated by the shadows

His secret drinking,
his affair with the town hypnotist,
his obsession
with painting his self portrait
again and again

It was all so clear,
but upside down;
My neck cracked
trying to make sense of
what I saw
while everything was
so far away
so close

through a small hole
in a dark room