I recall him:
handsome, saturnine aristocrat,
humourless brother of
The Laughing Cavalier
on my mother's
wall ... fancy hat
with swirling brim,
deep green coat.
Long lost now –
after she died,
all her property
dispersed or abandoned.
I remember too,
later, a card:
the Green Woman
wrinkled and wise.
A student begged
to borrow, copy.
I was reluctant;
she promised return.
She never did.
She moved away,
leaving no address…
Remembering, I see
again, or still,
that image of
nut-brown, smiling face
kindly, knowing eyes.
These decades later,
their clear features
revive: never truly
lost or stolen.
For Friday Writings #159: Making It New, at Poets and Storytellers United: a remix (or perhaps more of a revision) of an earlier version also written for P&SU. This one began as an erasure, then I rearranged it slightly in places for more coherence, and altered some words. It settled into three-word lines and four-line verses.
Not that I was unhappy with the original; this was just done for the purpose of the exercise. I actually like both versions and I'm not sure either is 'better', just different. However, such paring down can sometimes save a piece that isn't working. In poetry, often 'less is more'.
