Lucha Libre 
Roger Camp


for Christopher A. Foster, 1954-2009



Your portrait
of the masked Mexican wrestler
you took in your twenties
hangs in my home,
the pride of the luchadore
everywhere present.
It speaks to your gifts
as a photographer,
wrestling dignity
from the dingy depths
of L.A.’s Olympic auditorium.

The same can be said 
of the public masks your photos shed,
the men at your uncle’s Mission,
the derelicts on Skid Row,
the steely eyed figure on the bench
at the Long Beach Pike,
even the Roman portraits
you took outside the Piazza San Pietro.

At his final fight 
the luchadore removes his mask
his true face exposed.
Your photographs preempted time
unveiling myriad meins
before their final bout.






 

About the author:
Roger Camp lives in Seal Beach, CA. His work has appeared in the Atlanta Review, Dr. T. J. Ekleburg Review, Pank and is forthcoming in the Tampa Review and Hopkins Review.