Image: Unsplash, downloaded (https://unsplash.com/photos/grayscale-photo-of-woman-walking-on-seashore-white-holding-rectangular-wooden-photo-frame-lIvALCu6T8Q) 21.4.2024.
Portrait in a Door
Clusters of words swirl in the depth of a strange realm
images flash to make motion of what was once so still
stories emerge in endless chapters of sobs, grins, and laughter;
conversations stack scatological through a fertile desert.
The apparition endures less than a moment
a single frame of utter simplicity to be held in a safe
a soft breeze penetrates with the slow motion of the gate;
waves pass gently through the ebony sea.
An aura comes to be borne and stills the hour
which needs no more to hold with a meaning for millennia
impressionist with the glow of Degas’ juvenile dancers
rich with life for eternity in most intense serenity.
The hand on the frame which soon will close
gliding as if to the fragile envelope of the infant
her face remains in a tilt as she dares a light smile
she seems to speak, but sounds are trapped in the canvas.
Deep blue crystals to a profound soul gape to her will
the pose becomes imprinted on the unseen frame
a memory laden with the ongoing present
she creates the impossible, never to perish again.
About the Author: Poussin is a professor of French and World Literature. His work in poetry and photography has appeared in Kestrel, Symposium, The Chimes, and hundreds of other publications worldwide. Most recently, his collections In Absentia, and If I Had a Gun, Half Past Lifewere published in 2021, 2022, and 2023 by Silver Bow Publishing.
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