some of us see you as woman
in flowered hat
cool as a spring blossom
no one can guess that beneath
your walk with an air of elegance
that you are filled with piths of sadness
an emptiness that you cannot bottle
and put a label
so that your therapist can check
its shape
its hues and dunes
its composition
her moon eyeglasses
could not decode where it
started nor prescribe the cure
so you carry a big purse of fullness
and work your hands with busyness
your schedule is so booked
you blank out lunch
you forget to go outside
and inhale the scent of lilacs & tulips-
real flowers, that is
if only your therapist knows
that the only thing that brings you a smile
are the birdsongs
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I love how you used the juxtaposition between the flowers in her hat (to me it seems they mask something) and the real flowers she is missing being to preoccupied with her busyness... made me think of a H.C. Anderson tale called the Nightingale, where the real Nightingale is replaced with an artifical one to the emperor who total forget the real world for the enchanting toy...
ReplyDeletehttps://andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheNightingale_e.html
Ah Grace, I love this one. Most especially these words:
ReplyDelete"so that your therapist can check
its shape
its hues and dunes
its composition "
I do think today's world gets so busy, that we forget to, as the saying goes, "smell the roses"....busyness indeed.
Good character study, Grace.
ReplyDeleteI love the title, the way you interpreted the image, and the way you peek under the hat, beneath the ‘air of elegance’ to find ‘piths of sadness’, Grace. These lines speak to me:
ReplyDelete‘an emptiness that you cannot bottle
and put a label
so that your therapist can check
its shape
its hues and dunes
its composition’.
I also love the contrast between the emptiness and the ‘big purse of fullness’, and the real flowers, the ‘scent of lilacs & tulip; she is missing.
Nice one Bravo!!!
ReplyDeleteMuch♡love
It felt a little bit like you had written back to my moon poem, or I had written it back to you. Especially liked these lines:
ReplyDelete“ her moon eyeglasses
could not decode where it
started nor prescribe the cure”
Very good, Grace. I really like it!
ReplyDeleteAhhh sadness masked ... but there are still birdsongs. Hope I think.
ReplyDeletehope the bird song brings her some kind of peace
ReplyDeleteTherapists don't always look for the simple solution. Just give her the birds and the outdoors.
ReplyDeleteI love how you took the age old image and notion that something is hiding underneath the hat, and that you so eloquently yet simply made it feel relatable and familiar. More birdsongs, please, for all of us!
ReplyDeleteIt's impossible to give that kind of sadness a shape, you've described depression well. Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteVery evocative.
ReplyDeleteMany can identify.
Sad that she needs therapy and a therapist.
Wish she can spend more time listening to the bird-songs and smelling real flowers and doing everything she loves!
I also saw something under the lovely lady's visage ... enjoyed where you took her.
ReplyDeleteA great take on the photo, Grace. Very true in many people as the keep busy to distract themselves from the pain of life.
ReplyDeleteThis is so beautiful and relatable, Grace, I love it. Especially the whole of the second stanza <3
ReplyDeleteA very poignant, and with so many great lines. I love "piths of sadness,"--so perfect. And her "big purse of fullness." I feel for her.
ReplyDeleteI like this poem very much Grace - certain words - piths of sadness and the big purse of fullness. I know someone whose depression is the very opposite - emptiness and saying no to everything but you delineate how busyness is equally masking...
ReplyDeleteSuch evocative writing. There are too many labels and text book cures, depression is as individual as the person. Keeping busy or wearing hats, a smile and laughing can all be masks. Birdsong however, is always a delight that can pierce through the darkness and bring a real smile.
ReplyDeleteI like "piths of sadness" and the way you impose a twenty first century narrative on the image complete with busyness and therapists! JIM
ReplyDeleteGrace, your exploration of hidden emotions beneath the facade of busyness gives this poem an even more powerful depth, I think...
ReplyDeleteMuch love,
David
SkepticsKaddish.com
Your keen poetic eyes make your readers look beyond the obvious and relate with the busyness used to camouflage emptiness. A beautiful write, Grace.
ReplyDelete