What Develops

In the hush of red-lit darkroom glow,
A roll unwinds, its secrets slow.
Silver salts on celluloid wait,
For Developer to stir their fate.

Shadows bloom in liquid grace,
Moments etched on time’s pale face.
A Stop Bath kiss, abrupt, austere,
Halts the ghost from drawing near.

Then Fixer seals the fleeting trace,
Locks the light in rigid place.
Images born of silent art,
A captured soul, a beating heart.

Tongs and trays, the dance is done—
Life emerges, one by one.
In black and white, the truth reveals,
What color hides, the lens unseals.