other patches of the sky

(Here's a 1994 era short story from PIE IN THE SKY #77):

OTHER PATCHES OF THE SKY

She lay on her back, to point a camera at the sky. 

Through the lens, all the clouds in the blue paddled by. 

While she waited for the moment to arrive…

When a bird flew across the glass, she would capture it 

in a photograph. She would take it home inside the camera 

and in the red lights of the darkroom, she would release it 

to the world again. Swirled in the water and chemicals, 

the bird would reemerge slowly. Dripping, becoming real, 

then pinned to dry on a singing rope with other patches 

of the sky.