Written: July 8, 2026, for a contest sponsored by Brian Strand
***Instead of simply describing the visual of Chaggal Birthday Work of Art, this Ekphrasis poem reacts to and interprets the painting's emotional and symbolic significance.
********************
Ekphrasis: The Birthday
Love unfastens
the ordinary.
A room remains a room
until joy bends its own bones,
and suddenly
the body believes
it was always meant
to fly.
Your kiss
is not an ending,
but an axis—
around which walls,
windows,
and waking
quietly revolve.
Gravity grows gentle,
its stern syllables
softened by surrender.
I look,
and the painting
looks back—
teaching me
that devotion
is the only miracle
that leaves the earth
without ever leaving it.
To know the Hour that finds my Name—
Unfastens—every Day—
The World—no longer casual—
But sacred—in its Stay—
Each Morning—with Out urgency—
A Hymn—too brief to waste—
The Sun—no longer certain—now—
But chosen—by my Taste—
I eat the Light—deliberate—
I drink the Air—aware—
That Breath—is not a Habit—but
A Mercy—held in Care—
I keep my Hands—employed in Good—
As though Kindness—were a Flame—
That Death—may circle—cannot quench—
Nor learn from me a name—
Each Moment—stands—an Interview—
With Eternity—disguised—
And Gratitude—becomes the Proof
That Life—was realized—
So when the Clock—remembers Me—
And Silence—claims my Part—
I leave—no frantic Testament—
But Wakefulness—of Heart—
Cyclone stars appear in the night sky
alongside circular lights abreast an amber moon
He quietly sits by the piano and plays
sending this heart of mine into a tailspin;
Aiming straight for my glass soul
he shatters every cruel reality and replaces it
with a soft fantasy of gold...
Pouring out a melody of love's solitary journey
he unlocks every door and window.
Unaware of the air that he breathes beside me,
this longing I hold unfastens, beneath a canopy of gold
I am suddenly shaken, re-arranged and changed forever.
Written by: Mystic Rose
Brendon earns his bread and butter
as an artist at Anna's -
Anna's Beauty Salon.
He places the smock across my shoulders
as if it were a feathered gown;
I feel resplendent already.
Removing the pencil from my messy bun,
he unfastens my hair with
hungry hands.
His fingers dance with intrigue like the
balloons bobbing on the mirror..
He is the cat and I am his cream.
Her soul is cold and dull;
limber limbs grow numb at love's undoing.
Songbirds no longer trill
in gay abandon, sadness spoils their tune.
Winter's blast is coming
with full force, dark days of unfilled longing.
Despair, the too-sharp pang,
unfastens quick the glow of happiness,
defrocks the breast of care
and locks all feeling trapped within the heart
to wither, shorn of hope
that blessed joy will make a re-appearance.
Flowers bear no fragrance,
the gentle breath of leaves blows no repose
for the broken spirit,
till a chance encounter brings the blessing
of a fresh departure,
her heart in blither mood, her soul reborn!
Her soul is cold and dull;
limber limbs grow numb at love's undoing.
Songbirds no longer trill
in gay abandon, sadness spoils their tune.
Winter's blast is coming
with full force, dark days of unfilled longing.
Despair, the too-sharp pang,
unfastens quick the glow of happiness,
defrocks the breast of care
and locks all feeling trapped within the heart
to wither, shorn of hope
that blessed joy will make a re-appearance.
Flowers bear no fragrance,
the gentle breath of leaves blows no repose
for the broken spirit,
till a chance encounter brings the blessing
of a fresh departure,
her heart in blither mood, her soul reborn!
Her soul is cold and dull;
limber limbs grow numb at love's undoing.
Songbirds no longer trill
in gay abandon, sadness spoils their tune.
Winter's blast is coming
with full force, dark days of unfilled longing.
Despair, the too-sharp pang,
unfastens quick the glow of happiness,
defrocks the breast of care
and locks all feeling trapped within the heart
to wither, shorn of hope
that blessed joy will make a re-appearance.
Flowers bear no fragrance,
the gentle breath of leaves blows no repose
for the broken spirit,
till a chance encounter brings the blessing
of a fresh departure,
her heart in blither mood, her soul reborn!
Her soul is cold and dull;
limber limbs grow numb at love's undoing.
Songbirds no longer trill
in gay abandon, sadness spoils their tune.
Winter's blast is coming
with full force, dark days of unfilled longing.
Despair, the too-sharp pang,
unfastens quick the glow of happiness,
defrocks the breast of care
and locks all feeling trapped within the heart
to wither, shorn of hope
that blessed joy will make a re-appearance.
Flowers bear no fragrance,
the gentle breath of leaves blows no repose
for the broken spirit,
till a chance encounter brings the blessing
of a fresh departure,
her heart in blither mood, her soul reborn!
A decade in to
a new millennium,
a woman, nearing
a century on Earth,
braces herself in
a doorway of
the house,
she has lived in since birth.
Her oldest son unfastens his belt, and takes a seat at the end of her table,
where her middle son just fixed the legs of the chair; to make sure it was stable.
Her youngest son brushes the webs off the wall, and scrubs the stains from the floor.
Her only daughter packs up her pictures, and helps her through the door.
A decade in to
a new millennium,
a life, almost
a century long,
comes flooding back
to the thoughts of a woman
who feels removed
from where she belongs.
Her daughter tries to lift her spirits, (from the room in which, she slept as a child)
but no one could easily witness their memories, all being sorted, and filed.
Her house is dissected, and put in a truck that waits - like a thief - in the drive.
-The cumbersome stance; the delicate dance; together, they help one another survive.
A decade in to
a new millennium,
a woman approaches
a century - passed.
A man in the attic
waves from the window -
Assuring her:
This home will not be her last.
Her soul is cold and dull;
limber limbs grow numb at love's undoing.
Songbirds no longer trill
in gay abandon, sadness spoils their tune.
Winter's blast is coming
with full force, dark days of unfilled longing.
Despair, the too-sharp pang,
unfastens quick the glow of happiness,
defrocks the breast of care
and locks all feeling trapped within the heart
to wither, shorn of hope
that blessed joy will make a re-appearance.
Flowers bear no fragrance,
the gentle breath of leaves blows no repose
for the broken spirit,
till a chance encounter brings the blessing
of a fresh departure,
her heart in blither mood, her soul reborn!
Her soul is cold and dull;
limber limbs grow numb at love's undoing.
Songbirds no longer trill
in gay abandon, sadness spoils their tune.
Winter's blast is coming
with full force, dark days of unfilled longing.
Despair, the too-sharp pang,
unfastens quick the glow of happiness,
defrocks the breast of care
and locks all feeling trapped within the heart
to wither, shorn of hope
that blessed joy will make a re-appearance.
Flowers bear no fragrance,
the gentle breath of leaves blows no repose
for the broken spirit,
till a chance encounter brings the blessing
of a fresh departure,
her heart in blither mood, her soul reborn.
With chilled and calloused hands, he climbs onto the heavy
city dumpster, and forces open the steel container.
Peering into the darkness, of green plastic bags fastened with
orange ribbon, he eagerly unfastens his prize package
and fingers its contents of broken crusts and pizza sauce,
which he stuffs eagerly inside his bulky duffel coat..
Again, he reaches deep and pulls out discarded soda cans
and sheets of yesterday's papers which will serve as his
blanket for the coming night
Snow has started to fall in the early morning dawn as
carefully he steps down and turns toward
the wagging tail of his three-legged dog Moses.
Slowly, the two of them trudge back along the cobblestone alley
to face yet another day on the streets of desolation..
Her soul is cold and dull;
limber limbs grow numb at love's undoing.
Songbirds no longer trill
in gay abandon, sadness spoils their tune.
Winter's blast is coming
with full force, dark days of unfilled longing.
Despair, the too-sharp pang,
unfastens quick the glow of happiness,
defrocks the breast of care
and locks all feeling trapped within the heart
to wither, shorn of hope
that blessed joy will make a re-appearance.
Flowers bear no fragrance,
the gentle breath of leaves blows no repose
for the broken spirit,
till a chance encounter brings the blessing
of a fresh departure,
her heart in blither mood, her soul reborn.
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