fragility of reason ~ ululates upon brush strokes of despair
Categories:
edvard munch, art, depression, perspective,
Form: Monoku
Behold the bather astride the river,
resplendent in rainbow-dappled nudity
his sense of light and air and wetness
ebbs and flows like his emotions,
colors shift and swirl in response
to the universe of his creativity.
Categories:
edvard munch, art, color, image,
Form: Ekphrasis
Oblong outlines of a soul
Stretched in elliptical misery
Redefines the perfect circle
To a breakable volatile tautness
Loosely cloaked in sheaths of epitonic blue
Draped upon the shrinking body to hide a terrified world
Dressed in swirling ominous patterns of anonymity
To be lost within the deepest abyss of fatal fear
Planted like a tenuous girder of iron truth
On a bridge of no return
There is no departure from excruciating fear
From this wicked self-imposed poltergeist
An unseen force deliberates death
Smothering with tremulous trepidation
Annihilating the essence of existence
With no bond found on common ground
There lies the secret
Within the mystery of a soul’s distress
The exorcism of human strength
As fear brings the will of life to a standstill
7-12-2023
Categories:
edvard munch, fear,
Form: Ekphrasis
The snow falls white in Norway
just like anywhere else in the world.
The snow falls white in Norway
like the smoke from a cigarette.
The blue mists lap at coat tails
only in a self-portrait in Norway.
Pale brown eyes shine, surprised to see you
only in a self-portrait in Norway.
One hand holding time itself, slipping.
One hand held firmly in the void.
I can see myself alive in him,
as the snow falls white in Norway.
Categories:
edvard munch, art,
Form: Ekphrasis
Red House and Spruce by Edvard Munch
Snug, in a blue bunting of hibernation,
Red cottage
In a clearing of indigo and ice spruce
That form ribs of protection from
From hues of ill winds,
As a leafless birch backbone
Spreads a protective circle,
Sentinels of secrets
Behind the hidden crimson door
When eventide’s crystal constellations
Of fallen cerulean white snows
Sleep in solitude
As Aurora lingers above ash and aspen
In glowing neon passion values
Sheltered scarlet hearth and heart
Slumbers in tones of a Nordic cradle song
And winsome memories of a mountain king
In snowfall’s language of winter
Of painted cobalt shadows
Surrounding a red house.
Categories:
edvard munch, blue, house, red, snow,
Form: Ekphrasis
At first glance ...
Amid turbulent strokes
and vivid hues,
eyes mesmerized by
maiden's molten-red mane—
Love and Pain
Gently kissing
her lover's nape
in tender embrace,
while Pain's
lurking specter
overshadows their
intimate space,
threatening Love's
fragile grace
Second glance ...
Gent's deathlike pallor
portrays a chilling
alternative motif.
Is love really her goal, or
is she nosferatu feasting
on a submissive soul?
Dark eyes reflect the
lurking specter's desire—
Vampire
Categories:
edvard munch, art, love, pain, perspective,
Form: Ekphrasis
When love is torn asunder and there is nothing left but dissent,
a lover's heart will be shattered, mortally wounded and rent.
In a relationship that was once held as sacred and eternal,
sorrow takes a heavy toll on the one left behind, and infernal
flames of grief scorch the lonely heart so that it must dwell,
suffering in what seems like the fiery abyss of emotional hell.
Forlorn the man when his once-upon-a-time love went astray,
and became a wraith without a face. She refused to stay.
Dressed in bridal gown, perhaps she seeks a new marriage mate,
a man who will please her instead of treating her like a roommate.
She looks forward to a brighter future than one she's left behind,
wondering why she married him. How could she have been so blind?
Could it be there's another side to the separation of two lovers?
In death she was buried in a white shroud. Sorrowfully, he hovers.
A bouquet of crimson flowers he's brought to leave at her grave
but he cannot bear to look at the tomb. Today, he's not that brave.
Ghostlike she appears to him, a wispy figure, floating in the mist.
He's haunted by memories of the lips he'd passionately kissed.
Categories:
edvard munch, lost love,
Form: Ekphrasis
At twilight time, a man surrounded by
some colors yellow and an orange red
which seem to swirl above him in the sky
stands on a bridge with both hands on his head
as if he wants to cover up his ears.
This scene depicts a vision of this man
who lived with such anxiety and fears.
Oh what could even be more fearsome than
a world gone crazy? Man with nature screams!
The bridge the man is standing on stays strong.
Mankind progresses (or at least it seems).
Can we succeed with so much going wrong?
We still relate to Edvard’s “Scream” today.
The terror it imparts us still holds sway.
Categories:
edvard munch, art,
Form: Ekphrasis
THE SICK CHILD-EDVARD MUNCH
Ghostly downpour upon not the sick,
but the sick at heart - a child’s mother.
Bittersweet tangle of red - patient’s hair,
dresser, caretaker’s hands. Bedside
manner, sorrowful to the point of death,
but the woman is not literally dying,
her daughter is. Steadfast bravery
warm blanket hue of hunter-green,
orange and blue. The girl’s mother
already draped in a dreary raven habit.
The sick room is passionate - lucky girl
is blessed. She is not alone until
her soul departs. Her mother will live
with a solitary soul-sucking pit, deep
inside of her residual days, memories
tucked away from all her friends, for
she will dread the fire of life - the source
that lit her lamp with strawberry hair,
freckled windsong, a swinging pendulum.
The sick child, already in the light;
despair has a screaming voice,
perceived in claustrophobic space.
One is lightened by breathlessness;
the other is lightened by a broken heart.
Categories:
edvard munch, art,
Form: Ekphrasis
the unheard-of starry night
subdued in colors
no bright
swirls
no blaze of fire
but a mist of mysterious night
reflected stars in flight
textured strokes
dark land
uncertain shapes
essence of the night
broken by dots of white
broken by line of fence
fence broken by a
shadow
who could it be?
who goes there in the night
that can’t be right
a trick
of the eye
no not here
the unheard-of starry night
Categories:
edvard munch, appreciation, art, image, mystery,
Form: Ekphrasis
The tapestry of the indigo sky,
weaved with the strips of silver cloud,
merges with the still sea in the blues.
The dislodged boulders strewn as dry debris,
away from the waterfront of desire,
symbolize my broken dreams.
The anchorless empty boat
drifts away from the shore of longing.
I feel connected with its desolation
for being away from the home you made for me,
that is lodged isolated in the yonder rocky ledge.
I am in the ruins with my splintered heart,
listen to the voice of the anguished soul.
Mutilated mind constructs the precinct of recluse,
encases the stifling loneliness of poignant prison
where the sad psyche languishes
with the unsurmountable agony relentlessly
negating the perspective of hope in mental affliction.
The cauldron of dissonance remote from rhythm of life,
its void filled with drops of depression in adagio.
My latent desires are demolished,
and the malleable mind yields to nostalgia,
the remnant of yearning shrouded in melancholy.
Categories:
edvard munch, art, nostalgia, sorrow,
Form: Ekphrasis
Who have I painted this for
This reflection of my core
My introspection wonders back
An injection of epiphany
It drifts from me like smoke
Suddenly aware I see
Nothing that looks like clarity
In the shadows I am pondering
A stillness caught by candlelight
If I stop watching you paint me
Will myself in frame then cease to be
The quiet trickles down like falling ash
From a cigarette only just lit
As my eyes play tricks
And test my wits
I ask myself which side I'm on
And who is watching who
Categories:
edvard munch, self,
Form: Ekphrasis
The scream By Edvard Munch
A blood red sunset radiates warmth; yet I feel chilled to my core
The alien like androgynous figure transfixes me
Dressed entirely in black, head clutched in tormented agony
Mouth open emitting a silent scream
This cannot be heard audibly yet resonates in waves across the canvas
A ravaging river of anguish grey, black and blue
Angry swirls depicting mental torture.
I stand and stare at the picture and pray I never feel this way
Celebration of Art Contest
Sponsored by Kim Rodrigues
05~14~17
Categories:
edvard munch, mental illness,
Form: Free verse