(Wooden statue whittled by a mental patient)
1.
You think I am vain,
like the lovely boy
gazing in the pool
at his own reflection.
He lost his head,
didn’t he? – his pretty head –
obsession becoming
a kind of self-rejection.
But when I fixed
on my own image,
it was to recreate it
for introspection.
I wanted to see
what my soul looked like,
not to show you but myself …
and found it all dejection.
2.
Skinny bugger,
isn’t he?
I made him out of
apple wood,
dragging it from where
it fell.
I carved and smoothed
and shaped
rudimentary knees, face,
tiny genitals.
(I know he doesn’t
seem well.)
3.
He’s not looking
up or out.
His arms cling
to his sides.
Maybe he doesn’t
know any better?
What is the
satisfaction of being?
It’s apparent
he doesn’t know.
His life is not freedom
but a fetter.
4.
Now that I’ve made him,
there are those who suppose
he is me.
It might be so – yet, is he not
something alien?
You tell me!
Now that I have cut him
off from myself, I see
what is me.
I’m lighter than smoke
dancing on air, no more weight
stuck to me.
Based on this item in the American Visionary Art Museum. (The link takes you to the image and also the story behind it.)
Sad and beautiful, both the poem and the art. And io like how you bring in Narcissus without mentioning him by name.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bruce!
DeleteOMG, this is fabulous ekphrasis. I love that you wrote it in the creator's voice. I hope lots and lots of people get to read this.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Potentially hundreds, LOL, at the NaPoWriMo site, and on facebook. But whether they all will ... I am usually not fond of my own attempts at ekphrasis, but the NaPo prompts this year have been so exciting! Perhaps it depends on the nature of the art one is using for inspiration.
Delete