Naona vitu!
Unaona vitu vyote,
Na ubayana,
Kwenye mwanga
wowote?
Ah, mie napenda
Kutazama ukamilifu,
Ni furaha.

Napiga juu and chini,
Nachukua shabaha haraka au pole,
Nyeusi na nyeupe,
Mbali kabisa na uwazi mno,
Lakini kivuli za kijivu,
Huingilie na hatua.

Nina kumbuka rangi zote,
Kwa manufaa ya mwajiri,
Mwajiri wangu ananichukua mbali,
Sehemu faragha,
Asilia, habarini, au maafani,
Katika matuta ya maisha pamoja,
Tunatafuka amali, vurugu,
Ukimya na umaarufu, kujikokota,
Safarini mwituni mpaka kufugwa.

Aina yangu,
Wamekuja na wameondoka,
Lakini bidii zao zime baki,
Mwajiri wanasema
Ninitutakifanya
Wanatupanda, elekeza,
Na kutuwachia,
Lazima tuwa tumikie.

Tunapiga picha na kuyumba,
Kwa upeo wa mwajiri,
Na lenzi hizi,
Na kujibadilisha tuna
Tangaza habari na
Kumaliza wito wa ujumbe.

Mwishoni tunasalimu,
Katika mwanga, 
Uweusi wetu ni kamili. Ndani
Ni kiza kikubwa na yetu kuweka,
Lakini mwanga, mpenzi mwanga,
Ni kipimo sawa sawa,
Inabadilika kwenye ukamilifu,
Tunaota na kufunguka,
Tunajitahidi kupata ukamilifu.

I see things!
Do you see things?
Do you see them
With any clarity
In any light?
Oh, how I like
The perfect sight.
It’s a delight.

I shoot high and low,
I take aim fast or slow,
Black and white
Extremely far and wide,
But shades of gray
Intervene with a stride.

I record hues of color
For my master,
My master takes me far and wide,
Places of seclusion,
Nature, news, or disaster,
Through many bumps of life side by side,
We seek action, commotion
Still life and fame, plodding along
The wildernesses until we tame.

My kind have
Come and gone, but
Our work stays,
Our masters have
Most of the say,
They mount, set, and
Release us for
We must obey.

For we snap and sway
To our masters’ vision,
With this lens
Interchangeably we
Convey the news
And finish the mission.

In the end we surrender
To the light, our
Blackness is complete. The inside
 of darkness is ours to
Keep, but the light, oh, the dear
Light, it is measured and precise,
And varies from sight to sight,
We imagine and open up,
Striving in search of the perfect sight. 

Translated on April 9, 2016.
Originally written on June 14, 2005.