I look for keys to unlock what is
lost—searching inside every box—in
every container, in every drawer–
I can’t keep up all these disguises–
lifetimes hidden in vessels of dust,
threadbare remnants of secrets, lead veils–
Each day a new weight–still hauling them
around—I don’t know where they begin,
end, what existence lies underneath–
Time is not what it pretends to be–
the doors are locked, but I can open
every window, tear down the curtains–
Unchecked, the outside pours itself in,
displacing the insides–spilling out
My poem for the Vermeer writing challenge at the Exphrastic Review (“Woman Holding a Balance”, above) was rejected, but I’ve revised it down to 14 lines for Frank’s poetic prompt at dVerse.
My collage response to Vermeer is a work in progress, but I think this new, shorter, poem is more suited to both the original and what I’ve done so far. Thanks Frank!
I like the last two lines with the outside pouring in and the inside spilling out.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks Frank. It will happen, best to not fight it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Finding the Balance” indeed. The shutdown has allowed my wife and I to finally discard old unworn clothes and mementos.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It has certainly given us time and new ways to consider our lives.
LikeLike
A very unsettling place to be. Trying to find a new normal. Your poem speaks well to these feelings.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks!
LikeLike
Windows and boxes, locks and keys. An interesting poem!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Beverly.
LikeLike
I get where you’re coming from, the ruminations, asking those questions over and over again never with any answers. I like your remedy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Jade. We need to let in the light where we find it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A good poem is a good poem no matter what any review might say! This is a great poem. I love the collage and the Painting. You are right Spring is spilling all over us!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Dwight. It is!
LikeLiked by 1 person
‘Time is not what it pretends to be’
It can be closed compartments, never to be opened before it’s allowed then locked again forever. Yet you open them and dust them out, change the order. What a wonderful thing to do!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Jane. This painting is full of mysteries unconnected to the concept of time.
LikeLike
Time is one of those mysteries I don’t even try to work out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love your collage and, of course, the Vermeer. We visited the Vermeer House in Delft when we were there – wonderful! I also love your poem, Kerfe, and am surprised it was rejected. It captures the anxiety of someone who is trying to keep on top of things. I am familiar with searching for items I don’t remember misplacing, only to find them where I least expect them. I especially like the lines:
‘threadbare remnants of secrets, lead veils–
Each day a new weight–still hauling them
Around…’
and the frustration is palpable in:
‘the doors are locked, but I can open
every window, tear down the curtains’.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Kim. I think they get many many submissions–they can’t publish them all.
Vermeer asks so many questions with light. His work always has layers to look behind,
I seem to find things where I have already looked several times. Sometimes the mind is too frenzied to see.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful Depth and those “lead curtains” really got me
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanjs Jude.
LikeLike
My pleasure 🌼
LikeLiked by 1 person
“threadbare remnants of secrets, lead veils–
Each day a new weight–still hauling them
Around…” such powerful lines I think you did the artist justice- for me this is the whole purpose of art to evoke a conscious response while maintaining its aesthetic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Christine. Vermeer has much to tell us.
LikeLike
I found this poem fascinating and relevant. Locking and opening, and how, ready or not, the outside will pour in and spill out. There’s a frantic feel to it for me. Beautifully done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Diana. It’s hard to contain all that we are feeling right now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Time is not what it pretends to be”–oh, I really like that. (You know my time obsession.)
And those closing lines are wonderful.
I like the hands and faces in your collage–like pasts and futures.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Merril. I thought the painting to be very much about time.
Your poem is wonderful–even just in the way it uses space so sparingly..
The painting, like all good ones, could inspire many other (and different) collages. This one, as you noted, is about layers of time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Having just finished reading Richard Powers’ “The Overstory” (excellent pandemic reading if you’ve not done so yet) I found your poem and collage especially urgent. The weights, many chosen, many imagined, are nothing to what demands my attention beyond the window.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Sun. That is a wonderful book! On so many levels, it just magnifies all that is wrong with our leadership and the people who put and keep them there. We have much work to do.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That wish to get clarity and opening of boxes makes me think of Pandora… ,,maybe some boxes should remain closed
LikeLiked by 1 person
I always thought of Pandora as being wrongly chastised in the same way that Eve was forecasting the apple…better to know than to be “protected”.
LikeLike
Love this. Had to read a few times.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Bela. My own understanding of what I write is often incomplete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me too. 🙃
LikeLiked by 1 person