Views

Posted on by Reena Saxena

DEATH

Image: Closed Geometry by Maria Berrio

a woman lies dead here
oblivious of rocks making faces
not knowing what stories
will be inscribed about her life
or her existence forgotten
as inconsequential
too shameful to be acknowledged
or a gem to be concealed
so that it does not overshadow
achievements of those
who see themselves
as entitled owners
or gatekeepers
of greatness

NEIGHBOURHOOD

Art by Eugene Delacroix – Women of Algiers in their apartment

Who knows what happened?
She did not spend time with us
or share stories of her life
She never bothered
to be a part of the sisterhood
-her condescending manner
raised doubts
on her set of ethics
always
too intellectual
too sophisticated
to be a part of the crowd

How can we grieve
when we don’t know enough
to even empathize with her?
A dissonant voice walks away
sympathizes with the one
who is no more
-not amidst them
to be dissected
with such impunity

but she’s of a different ilk
maybe she craves attention
or maybe she is
an intersectional feminist

-but see what happens to them
all those who do not subscribe
to age-old wisdom
social norms
supremacy of the breadwinners
-see how they turn out
to be losers in the end

NO CLUE

Art by P. Konchalovesky

in the large mansion over the hill
someone paints memories
for posterity
grandiose
narcissistic
politically, socially correct
appearing as someone of his stature
should always be

they shut the windows
to restrain natural light
from impacting arc lights
that highlight greatness

it also keeps out the stench
of dirty secrets
buried in the valley
with rocks making faces
no one wants to see

no one should ever be able to connect
the legend in the portrait
with secrets of the valley
rocks will roll down tomorrow
to smash identities
to smear character
to let unknown associations
remain unseen

Poetics Ekphrastic Poetry at dVerse

25 thoughts on “Views”

  1. I would love to have my writing group here to tease out the meanings and links in this complex triptych – I am sure that to commit suicide is to be over being influenced by what others think or just being so desirous of the bad feelings stopping that you can’t even think about others. Sad that even if she is remembered as a gem, she will still be hidden away…
    I do like the way in which the themes which run through the three poems.

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  6. I like how you created three different perspectives–the woman, the other women gossiping about her, and the people in their mansion isolated themselves from all of it. I especially like the final two stanzas where the rocks return making faces and rolling.

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  10. Wow, Reena! You really ran with this prompt and created an epic poem combining all three images! I like the ‘rocks making faces’, enhancing the poor woman’s demise, and the way that links to the women in the apartment in Algiers, who thought ‘She never bothered to be a part of the sisterhood’ because she was ‘too sophisticated to be a part of the crowd’, and to the mansion over the hill where they keep out ‘the stench of dirty secrets buried in the valley’.

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