Poem submitted to “When Words Speak for the Silence of Art” poetry contest, Silent One, sponsor, July 8, 2026.
Name of Painting: Land of Enchantment Artist: Norman Rocwell I stand before Rockwell’s painting, the world tilting toward wonder~ a boy is bent over a book, lantern glow pooling around him, a small sun he’s been trusted to keep. Figures rise from the page: knights, sprites, impossible creatures, their colors soft yet insistent, as if imagination itself has stepped out to greet him. I watch the boy’s face—rapt, unguarded~ and feel that old ache of childhood belief, the way stories once lifted me beyond the boundaries of my own small life. The air around me smells of dust and summer wood; the book’s spine creaks like a door opening; and the painted air hums with that tender promise that the world is larger, stranger, kinder than I remembered. Rockwell reminds me that enchantment isn’t loud~ it arrives quietly, like tidewater or truth, asking only that I pause long enough to let the impossible step forward. And standing before the painting, I feel something shift: a loosening, a widening~ as if the boy’s lantern has cast its circle around me too, inviting me back into the realm where wonder is not a relic but a living, breathing companion.
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