Tethered tight & tender to shadows,
I gnaw
at knots inside my stomach,
I cannot bear Belladonna’s putrid perfume
nor heed to misty
mercurial maelstrom of lust—
I am more inclined towards eternal road,
you cannot sway me with design.
I, Hebe curse the senses wishing
I had never felt waves or
heard your siren song that played to my dark
delta of want,
yet summer nectar proves as distraction,
a wordplay of moments
which otherwise fail to deliver, to be precise.
Do not be fooled by soft celadon eyes,
I might look innocent,
but in truth there is an entire world within
that comes out
as night meets prey—
I am willing to let a few things slide if you
play by my rules,
for youth comes with a price.
And when I come to you with eyes lowered,
expect prayers etched
in moonlight,
I am a tangled mess of a goddess
whose air hums between
rising tides and destiny defined.
I see
the beauty in soul
and darkness entwined, both are brilliant.
Photo credits: Lady with eyes by Catrin Welz-Stein
Lillian hosts at dVerse where she invites us to write an ekphrastic poem
in the purest sense, describing the artwork by Catrin Welz-Stein, letting it
stir our imagination to write a poem that in some way, connects to the
image. Come join us! 💖
Posted for Poetics: Feeling a bit nostalgic today @dVerse Poets Pub
37 Responses
You paint the contradiction of Hebe so well… both youth and old age just as beauty and darkness entwined… well done, love it (and that we don’t all use the same image)
Thank you so much, Bjorn 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
Such a vivid character you have painted. Love the concluding/ending lines most specially:
I see
the beauty in soul
and darkness entwined, both are brilliant.
Thank you so much, Grace 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
I love that you wrote from the point of view of character in this painting, which could be tricky, but she took you to an amazing place of mythology, Sanaa. I especially love the alliterative and magical ‘tethered tight & tender to shadows’; the ‘dark delta of want’; ‘prayers etched in moonlight’; and these lines:
‘I am a tangled mess of a goddess
whose air hums between
rising tides and destiny defined’.
Awww gosh! Thank you so much, Kim 😍 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Hah! I KNEW you would pick this image!!! 🙂
“Do not be fooled by soft celadon eyes,
I might look innocent,
but in truth there is an entire world within
that comes out
as night meets prey— ”
The lines above particularly strike me. You’ve taken her and made her into “a tangled mess of a goddess.”
Just an excellent use of the image!
Thank you so much, my dearest Lillian 🥰 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
(and thank you for the glorious prompt) 🥂
Oof! (the sound in my mind hit with force of wordage here) gnaw
at knots inside my stomach,
I cannot bear Belladonna’s putrid perfume …youth indeed, comes with a price… what, what could I say about this? Stunned.
Thank you so much, Ain 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
Amen and ahem. Powerful, supple and purple at once from that cup o’ youth Hebe bears to our wandering voice.
Thank you so much, Brendan 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Very elloquently written, Sanaa. That mix of dark and light, good and evil, black and white!
Thank you so much, Dwight 😀 so glad the poem and its imagery appealed to you 💄❤️
Once more you write a guide to a goddess and as might be expected, she is scary – a great response to the prompt Sanaa…
Thank you so much, Andrew 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
~~~ and this poem is brilliant! Your unique style, lush, deep, with a side of sensuous.
Thank you so much, Helen 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Lovely poem!
💖💖💖
“And when I come to you with eyes lowered,
expect prayers etched
in moonlight,”
This is brilliant!!!
Much♡love
Thank you so much, Gillena 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
Much love back to you 🥂
A mesmerizing poem. Well done.
Thank you so much, Maria 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
A lovely articulation of “it’s complicated” when it comes to relationships.
Thank you so much, Lisa 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
“I see the beauty in soul and darkness entwined, both are brilliant.”
Gorgeous and deep
Reply
Thank you so much, Debi 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
Beautiful, thank you so much!
Thank you so much, Catrin 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
Wow, Saana, a lovely interpretation of this picture 🌈🩵
❤️❤️❤️
You found the soul of this painting. That last stanza is stunning.
Thank you so much, Sara 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
Ah, she holds dualities, the mystery of mysteries, most of all that little note of human experience “I am a tangled mess of a goddess” – are we not tangled 🙂 Beautiful write Sanaa
Thank you so much, Paul 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
What a gorgeous write, Sanaa! You stun us with each verse! 🥰🥰