Leonardo stands in the hush of his studio,
paintings breathing softly behind him~
the Virgin’s calm, the inventor’s restless sketches,
and the Mona Lisa waiting on her easel,
her half-smile already carrying
more secrets than the room can hold.
Beside him, the cracked egg waits~
its shell veined and luminous,
a chamber where silence has been working.
Leonardo touches it,
and she steps out smiling,
the broken shell releasing
what had been forming in quiet,
an idea finding its shape
the instant his hand
made room for it.
*apertura is a Renaissance-rooted word for “the moment creation steps forward.”
painting The Mona Lisa by Leonardo daVinci
"The way the smile flickers makes it a work of both art and science...
all of it goes into making the Mona Lisa's smile so mysterious and elusive." —
Walter Isaacson
I know something's wrong, when her brown eyes turn dark
yet when she is smiling, their green strikes a spark.
Note her long dark, black hair, deficient of style;
Tossing her head could make the smile more worthwhile.
While her ruby red lips lack any luster,
if she'd truly smile, I'd feel I could trust her.
The color of a smile that breaks forth unfurled?
It's charisma, pure light that brightens the world.
She sits composed
smiles a simple smile
and has us all intrigued
She mesmerizes
sees right through us
haunts us with her glance
There is no other portrait
quite so uniquely captivating
as Leonardo's Mona Lisa
AP" 1st place 2025
more than a Renaissance man, polymath personified
no boundaries, no demarcations - holistic view of arts and sciences
artist, musician, cartographer, engineer, anatomist and more
The last thing
you should ever want
is for a poet
to re-edit your verse
Better a robot
still better an ape
if your words to survive
— and disperse
(Dreamsleep: October, 2025)
For centuries, she would be beguile
the whole world with her famous smile,
but I couldn't make her grin (or laugh) -
well, only just a half.
Someone stole my face
and hung it in a bright room—
called it self-portrait.
And The Mona Lisa is tired - her canvas cracked from stares
A billion eyes dissect but no-one repairs
Her smile is a lie
Just a facade created to survive
They worship the fallacy but the woman's been lost.
Forgotten in history
her own identity to her remains a mystery
She had a voice once, a name, a life-
Now, she's only a sum of their expectations
Lost in becoming a true masterpiece
So polished that there's no personality.
I wonder if they soothe their imperfections with her crafted beauty
Perfectly imperfect though hidden behind reflected beliefs
Even if I scream they'll only hear silence.
Even if I change they'll frame me the same.
They will never see me as me,
Because I'm their Mona Lisa
And it doesn't matter what I want to be.
If there is an intriguing smile!
Why unravel a mystery
that can disfigure pure beauty?
Her story she wished to repaint
With each step, she refined a stroke
Striving to create a perfect picture
An abstract, where every feeling is captured.
In her old portrait
Black was dominant and vibrant
Seeping into every corner of her canvas
Even surpassing the edges.
The paintings of her soul
She sought to redo
Crafting a masterpiece
With an entirely different theme.
Her old self she would reflect
But this time, her portrait would be named
Like the great painting of Mona Lisa
Every inch of her, glorified.
She is another man's property
A smile, so deep like midnight sleep
There's secret hidden in her peep
A painted face of mystery
Crafted in guise of mastery
Even the ancients did not know
The meaning in her mystic glow
Her amber spark, like deep sea gold
Harbors a depth that was untold
There's something in her dark-brown hair
That casts a soft glow in the air
But there's a thought that is worthwhile
Even her two eyes wear a smile
The real color of her skin
Gives every mind a swirling spin
The beauty cloaked in mystery
Baffled the minds of history
5th place
1256 New Poem Only Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Brian Strand
Judged: November 11, 2023, PST
1st place
Any poem poetry contest
Sponsor: Robert James Liguori
Judged: November 15, 2023, PST
fainting
painting
11/7/23
If she does not look pretty you can forget your pay
Leonardo watched the patron keenly that day
She had better not look corpulent, make her look thin.
da Vinci knew now what a pickle he was in.
Wherever he looks her gaze follows his every step
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