Roll up! Come see
how easily the body slips
into extreme dimensions,
how contours that we thought
were ours, belong by right
to something/someone else.
The children laugh to see us changed
but shriek to see themselves
and run from glass to glass to see
it's all a joke, that nothing sticks,
the nightmare is short-lived.
But we have children deep within... what if...
We do not dare to think. We look again.
A concave shape is convex... Now
it's not. An elegance
of arabesque
is lost in bulbous shapes. The flesh
is putty in a stranger's hands.
An unseen power that formed it
now moulds and remoulds,
squeezes,stretches, bends and tortures it.
Friends, relatives, acquaintances
are momentary strangers here,
strangers aliens - all lost and all unrecognised.
Not you, my love. I see you clear
and see the you in you
through every transformation.
Love. passion, strong emotion,
call it as you will, is never fooled
by ripples in the glass or flesh
by light's exaggeration.
We pride ourselves that we can read
a face as hieroglyph, the way
the heart inclines, but such deceive
unless exposed
to love's discerning rays.
Written for the http://dversepoets.com/ prompt by Claudia:
Poetics: Fun Fair
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17 comments:
love that you chose the spiegelkabinett as we call it in german...the illusions..the deformation...and real love being untouched by the visible cause the heart sees much deeper... seeing the you in you...you only see good with the heart as exupéry's little prince said...great take on the prompt david..
Found myself thinking on the distorting mirrors that I had forgotten about. Tried to sum up the feel of their shapings, but couldn't get it down on paper.
And there you've done it, and done it to perfection.
Beautifully done, Dave. I like the way it concludes about love and recognition in detachment, after starting with all the fun of the fair. Impressive.
I like how you started with the fun mirror contortions but ended with seeing the final shape and colour of your love ~
I specially like reading the face as hieroglyph ~ Fine writing Dave ~
Mirrors were always warped enough for me anyway, so I avoided those at the fair. I really like this, and agree with David.
Those magic mirrors really do distort and change us to ugly. I didn't ever like them too much...lol But, I love what you did with them Dave. A lovely person is still a lovely person no matter how we look at them. :)
awww...nice man..you took the crazy mirrors of the fun house and made a love poem out of them...to see through all the distortions...made me smile big time man...
Wonderful, Dave. Loved the playful beginning and the serious ending. No matter what transformation, the one loved is STILL loved!
A beautiful poem written in two parts. The first one all playful and droll, the second one all serios and loving. And yet, the way the first one blends into the second one is magnificent. Many thanks, I enjoyed reading that a lot.
Greetings from London.
I have never been into a Hall of Mirrors Dave - I couldn't bear to see myself fat!
This old lady still finds delight in stepping in front of a 'funny mirror.' Memories of many carnivals, many a circus!! Beautifully done, Dave.
Very lovely. It is true that we think we can read a face, and then faces get changed by all kinds of factors, and though I do think there is truth in being able to read them, there is also an inherent unfairness. Wonderful work.
k.
Isn't fun, fun and love grand :-).
David, I really enjoyed how your poem merged seamlessly from a fun descriptive piece about a hall of mirrors into a deeper piece looking at the bonds of love.
I love the line ..."unless exposed to loves discerning rays."
Do you live in New Zealand?
Rightly said Dave! The magic mirror or fun mirror whatever, is meant to deceive and distort. Fun for the kids but the power of love overcomes and beats any distortions. How nice!
Hank
Various forms and shapes have finally disappeared in my image and only steady love was left bathing bright rays not illusion.
Claudia
I just love that word: spiegelkabinett! And the coment. Thanks for.
Aprille
Too kind, too kind - but thanks!!
David
Thank you, an interesting and helpful comment.
Heaven
Many thanks. Useful observations.
Laurie
I was not much on fairs when I was young, but the Hall of Mirrors and the Tunnel of Love were two that I'd visit.
Daydreamer too
Yes, exactly. Somehow, that's what the mirrors said to me. Thanks for your comments.
Brian
As long a s folk don't see through my distortions, that's okay!
Mary
Indeed. So much of value in life begins playfully and ends seriously, I think.
A Cuban in London
Much thanks for this. I had een unsure about the two halfs, whether they would work or not, so it's good to hear from those who think they do.
The Weaver of Grass
I can understand why folk would not want to, but I used to enjoy the experience. Guess that says something about me!
Helen
Thanks very much for this. really good to have.
Manicddaily
I take the point. I took up canoeing for a while - ran a school canoe group. It occurred to me one day that reading a face was not much different from reading the water - and just as unreliable! )I'm not sure what that has to do with anything!)
Windsmoke
Yup, guess it is at that!
DQPoetry
Thank you so much for this comment, which I find useful in all sorts of ways. No, not i New Zealand, southern England.
Hank
Absolutely true!
Haricot
Ah, well, love finds its own shape, does it not?
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