Photographs Of Children In The 1950s

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Then photographs were shot in some
stiffer, perhaps heavier atmosphere.
Maybe it was the thicker medium
of ancestral time pressing down.

The ratio of entertainment
to the substance of living—work,
family, community—hadn't yet reversed:
Photos were mementos, not show-biz.

When not clad as miniature adults,
children appeared identifiably children,
of unambiguous gender in overalls
or dresses, with dolls or cap pistols.

One sometimes noticed a shadowing
around the face, especially the eyes,
a certain suggestion of depths
the camera couldn't penetrate.

One couldn't call it intentional,
but the rigidity and lack of clarity—
innocent of digital tampering—
may have proved unwitting protection

against being seen, or, worse, wanting
to be seen, too clearly by those
who don't have our best interests in mind.
I won't name them. Everyone knows who they are.