the spring weather is a contradiction
of hazy sun with a dirty glass sky
smeary, smoggy, soggy but also sparkly
just like myself when I pass by a mirror wall
what you see is blurry & opaque outline
what you don't see is the toil & tedious work
welding myself with heat, friction and iron
when there is no preset or map to follow
there is no certainty that I will be a whole canvas
or even a completed chapter of a novel
but I am making small steps to overcome my addictions
my doubts and yes my contradictions
Note: poem inspired by Thorvald Hellesen
“Portrait of Mary Alice Eckbo” painted in 1914
Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - An Artist Gets His Due - hosted by Lillian. Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST. Thank you!
I love how you focused on those colors that is also a mirror of a feeble spring day... interesting that we both wrote from a first person perspective to those pictures
ReplyDeleteI love that idea of passing by the mirror and talking about what you see and don't see....and so interesting to here this portrait "speak" through your words in the first person! I enjoyed this very much!
ReplyDeleteWe chose the same image, Grace, and I know I have said this before, but I am always amazed at the different ways one image inspires different poets. I love the list of three ‘smeary, smoggy, soggy’, and the lines:
ReplyDelete‘what you see is blurry & opaque outline
what you don't see is the toil & tedious work’.
"there is no certainty that I will be a whole canvas," ... sigh! This is such an incredibly deep and moving write, Grace! 💖💖
ReplyDeleteGrace, you captured the ambiguity of the painting very well, that it is beginning to look human but has a ways to go.
ReplyDeleteClarity is the first step.
ReplyDeleteA great take on the painting, Grace. It is much like our lives, pieces fit together and blurred from all that is going on.
ReplyDeleteI like your "contradictions" and "addictions" usage to portray your writer's mood and feelings. Could developed burnout like mine. Go wild.
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I chose this portrait too. I love all that you read into it.
ReplyDeleteI love this: sky smeary, smoggy, soggy but also sparkly. Such a perfect description.
ReplyDeleteLove how you weaved the flatness of cubism into her story of looking beyond the facade and striving for change.
ReplyDeleteYou are ~~ the canvas and the novel.
ReplyDeleteI like how you picked up on the unfinished aspect of the painting, like a like unachieved.
ReplyDeleteI like the inspiration you drew here Grace — an effective snd well written piece my friend. 🙂👍🏼✌🏼
ReplyDeleteI like the "broken" feel of the poet's words
ReplyDeleteWhat you don't see - speaks to me directly
ReplyDeleteI love the “dirty glass sky”❤️
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