March 2019
I graduated from the University of Virginia in the first class that admitted women. After living more than half of my life in Kansas City, Missouri, I still miss the ocean, but treasure the writing community I’ve found through The Writers Place here. I so love art, France, and ekphrastic poetry that it’s not surprising Claude Monet is one of the leading men in my poems.
Surrounded by Monet’s Water Lilies
Salle 1, L’Orangerie, Paris
(in italics: quotes by Monet)
I would like to paint the way a bird sings.
Seduced by a serenade of light,
land, trees, and sky dive
deeper,
deeper,
deeper
into the pond. We wobble
at the edge, nearly toppling in
after them.
The subject…is the light.
Lily pads link mirror worlds.
Lavender peace. We still
our sway, mooring ourselves
to a bench while other pilgrims
orbit us.
…appearance changes at any moment
Visitors hush to whispers,
suspended in the moment paint
touched canvas, even as we swim
in the light of a full day, hours
shuffled by art.
It’s terrible how the light runs out.
We understand why sunset
tosses its last gold coins,
trying to buy off the night.
Surrounded by Monet’s Water Lilies
Salle 1, L’Orangerie, Paris
(in italics: quotes by Monet)
I would like to paint the way a bird sings.
Seduced by a serenade of light,
land, trees, and sky dive
deeper,
deeper,
deeper
into the pond. We wobble
at the edge, nearly toppling in
after them.
The subject…is the light.
Lily pads link mirror worlds.
Lavender peace. We still
our sway, mooring ourselves
to a bench while other pilgrims
orbit us.
…appearance changes at any moment
Visitors hush to whispers,
suspended in the moment paint
touched canvas, even as we swim
in the light of a full day, hours
shuffled by art.
It’s terrible how the light runs out.
We understand why sunset
tosses its last gold coins,
trying to buy off the night.
“Surrounded by Monet’s Water Lilies” was originally published in I-70 Review.
© 2019 Alarie Tennille
© 2019 Alarie Tennille
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