Image

She looked at an image for too long and

It lost its worth. 

It used to hold a sense of truth,

A touch of brilliance, and

An inch of perfection. 

Ephemeral feelings that left  

Without permission and left her hollow.  

What once showed her what was right,

Today gives her a lack of direction. 

She tries to hold the photograph in her hands,

But it breaks into parts she cannot understand. 

Its complexity frustrates her,

But it does not cause her to turn the other way. 

What happened to the way it amazed her?

The characters in this image used to

Be glorious.  They use to glow and reach

For the highest point in the sky. 

Yet, now all she sees are flaws

That jump and take hold of her mind.  

She is now captive of its imperfections.

Perhaps, when something no longer serves her,

It becomes her enemy.  What once encouraged her to be

Better, now, only shames her.  Yet, its hold on her is

Too powerful.  She can’t tear her eyes away.  She is afraid

That if she does, then there will be nowhere to look. 

Reviews

[Swagato Saha]

A beautiful piece of work indeed.

Warn me if this is reading too much into things - but I quite like how the disintegration of the image to complex subparts is in turn reflected in the poem's form; its lines "speed up" and sort of pass into each other unpunctuated. Intentional or otherwise, this effect can be powerful (as the 'formalists' in art have since long appreciated; perhaps you might be interested in formalism?)

Thank you, and I hope to read more.

[Cobblestone Traveler]

This is amazing.You perfectly described how something can lose its luster over time, yet you struggle to let it go because you invested so much love and energy into it. Growing can be melancholy as well as victorious. Great job with this piece.

[stephsand14]

Thank you!