Sunday, August 30, 2015

Self-Portrait


                                                                        Artist in his Studio by Rembrandt


In the light, your face is half moon
Etched on canvas, unfurling
Shadows of restless sea, I see

Jagged lines, brittle as sand dunes
Browning hues, lush as autumn's swirling  
In the light, your face is half moon

Silver-lidded, a mirage of June's perfect skies 
But August's unflinchingly death stares
Bestow shadows of restless sea, I see

Your singular passion, your wounds
Glint of secret core, raw as unrefined salt
No light nor half moon can dim, a face

Inked in velvet-red strokes, a darkening to swoon
A master boldly unrepentant as eagle swooping its prey
There are shadows,  restless as sea, I see  

Deep despair from love's lost
Grieving hands from burying a child
In the light, your face is half moon

Celebrated by many, your signature is known
But you breathe on cliff's edge, a yearning 
to live amidst shadows, restless as the sea, I 

Look for your bones under church's tombstone
Marked for men, broken and poor     
In the dying light, your face pivots a full moon
throwing shadows to restless sea, I see.....         me


Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Ekphrasis - Hosted by Bjorn Rudberg
and Poets United - This started as a villanelle but I added more lines & didn't follow the rhyming scheme.    Thanks for your visits ~

31 comments:

  1. What a shining piece of poetry - the last line the brightest and most breathtaking...a full moon of thought and knowing shining bright

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  2. First of all, I love when you take the Villanelle as startingpoint, and don't become the slave to form but create something that ties together the artist, his images and you. That's what makes a master, not his signature.

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  3. You really found a way to get inside that painting, Grace!

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  4. Bravo. What a mesmerizing piece, and the photos is apt.

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  5. Such an intense and mesmerizing piece.

    Lots of love,
    Sanaa

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  6. Sure brought the painting to light in a whole new view

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  7. The Villanelle-ish repetition of lines add emphasis in all the right places. This is poignant, grace-filled, lovely.

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  8. Im glad that you broke form just enough to write this compelling piece.
    One moment the painter speaks next it seems the subject is aliveI love the voice you give the painter, Grace (and the canvas)

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  9. This poem lives up to your blog name: Everyday Amazing. I love all the nuances, the shades and tones of colour and emotion that have gone into making this a riveting piece of writing.

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  10. Love "in the light your face is half-moon" so much! This is very beautiful writing, Grace - the closing lines are especially wonderful.

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  11. Your words transport and I'm a Rembrandt fan, as well. I'm not very well versed (no pun) in poetry, but I enjoy reading it on occasion. I also like the last line. . .

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  12. amazing how it flows and how it ends. love the imagery you used.

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  13. I was speechless when I reached the end Grace...wow, wow and wow!

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  14. It seems you saw quite a bit in the painting and captured it in your unique style.

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  15. OUCH!! The sss's sliding through each stanza increase with the sorrow and OH, I feel for the man, for the self caught and reflected in this painting. Oh, what the hands know and never forget!

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  16. I love the form of this piece. Some wonderful lines. Your start and your close are spectacular!

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  17. This is a masterpiece, Grace. I like how you entered through the artist's artistry and reflects as if you really own it. The half moon image will stay in my mind for a while.

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  18. While the first part paints the beautiful moon/sky looking person, the second part brings the character closer to reader in some way familiar, having something in common...~ Nice match the pic and poem.

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  19. This whole piece is beautiful..your second stanza is my favorite. What talent you have!

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  20. This is lyrical, intense and beautiful.

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  21. Awesome, awesome poem, G ... now add instagram and farcebook ... wonder what Mr. Rembrandt would say 2 that? Just sayin ... smiles ... Love, cat.

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  22. Stunning ~~ Jae Rose said it first, and best.

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  23. I watched a movie this weekend with Robin Williams in it and the middle part of this really made me think of him. How everyone knows his name and signature, yet never sees beyond into the heart and how that feels.

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  24. That's amazing! To start out as a Villanelle but giving out more.Sometimes when the creative juices work wonders one is led to even let form be sacrificed. Great job Grace!

    Hank

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