I carry
This week's Sunday Scribblings topic is "I carry ..."
I carry my camera with me everywhere but don't always take photos. The only time I felt like taking it out to get a shot today was when I was driving home tonight through Picadilly ('behind de bridge'). There were a whole set of (about 20 or more) policemen/women wearing bullet proof vests and black woollen caps, as well as army men in camouflage gear, standing in the dark in the middle of the road and on the sidewalk, staring at the few passing cars, looking grim and threatening and all brandishing massive guns (machine guns?) I have no idea what was going on. It looked like some kind of war zone. They stopped the car in front of me and appeared to be questioning the driver. After about a minute he/she drove off and so did I. I wasn't afraid, but considering how fatally trigger happy the police are these days, I was looking forward to getting out of the area quickly.
As I drove off I thought that I would have taken a photo of that if I could have. It looked and felt so unreal. But no way would I have done it. They would have seen me digging furtively in my bag, pulling something out ... and the rest might have been history.
I carry my camera with me everywhere but don't always take photos. The only time I felt like taking it out to get a shot today was when I was driving home tonight through Picadilly ('behind de bridge'). There were a whole set of (about 20 or more) policemen/women wearing bullet proof vests and black woollen caps, as well as army men in camouflage gear, standing in the dark in the middle of the road and on the sidewalk, staring at the few passing cars, looking grim and threatening and all brandishing massive guns (machine guns?) I have no idea what was going on. It looked like some kind of war zone. They stopped the car in front of me and appeared to be questioning the driver. After about a minute he/she drove off and so did I. I wasn't afraid, but considering how fatally trigger happy the police are these days, I was looking forward to getting out of the area quickly.
As I drove off I thought that I would have taken a photo of that if I could have. It looked and felt so unreal. But no way would I have done it. They would have seen me digging furtively in my bag, pulling something out ... and the rest might have been history.
I carry a camera.
You carry a gun.
If I had shot you tonight
Would you have shot me?
You carry a gun.
If I had shot you tonight
Would you have shot me?
Labels: sunday scribblings
posted by Elspeth at Thursday, November 15, 2007
8 Comments:
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How Un REAL.
HOW scary.
I think I would have thought I was in the middle of a TV drama!
Did you read in the paper later what it was all about?
Be safe.
Your ending lines/poem gave me chills.
That's scary alright, good you got out, safe...keep your camera to capture the beauty...this world is an ugly place...
Oh, what's this world coming to? Beautifully portrayed or should I say shot? I love those last four lines...thank you.
Probably not a great atmosphere to point anything, even a camera.
Crikey - thank goodness you didn't think to shoot! Your words gave us the powerful, terrifying image - please stay safe!
I like the parallels between the camera and a gun. Chilling true...
What an amazing story. I would have been very frightened.
I love it, especially the last lines.
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