Cameraman

You must see all suffering,
all cruelty, all injustice, all pain:
you must fix your eye on the starving,
the tortured and the executed: you
must look away from nothing.

You must not turn your hand
to feed children, nor to caress
the dying, nor to defend
victims. You keep the lens
in front of your mind,

that others may reach
into pockets, knock on doors,
dig wells. You are the itch
in others; you can make them
see clear, if only you watch

exactly; if you record
just what happened. Do not be tempted
to turn the camera inward:
your stricken looks are no concern
of the public’s. They need the word

on what you saw, not how
you felt. It is they who must feel
they saw it; they were there; so
involved, they condemn somewhat
the remote likes of you.