Saturday, June 1, 2019

Survival


Eli Edward Evangelidis, illustrator and engraver
from Sydney, Australia.
https://www.instagram.com/eliedwardart/
Survival

She lived beneath our crisp blue skies
where cocksfoot and clover swayed as sweetgrass,
deer frolicked amongst meadow sage,
and lichen and liverwort sported splendid greens;
competed only with mythic water lilies
that floated upon forest's cucumber hued pond.

She charmed us with saffron-colored flowers
tucked within her hair, eyes that reflected molten gold sunsets,
and the taste of vineyard and vine upon her lips.

* * *

A tempest blew our way,
pristine wilderness now a phantom forest
where lilies closed against darkness, drooped, and dropped,
cattail reeds darkened with decay, weeping willows curled into the bank,
and summer's sunflowers wilted and grayed in her hair,
hint of honey no longer upon her tongue.

Everyone's quick to name the serpent, as ebony eyes
and forked tongues are contagious; evil spreads like black ink.
We all cowered, for we had no Knight, what were we to do?

Amongst us we had one rise to the challenge, follow the way
of the ghost pines who haunt the paths with gnarled fingers
yet point the way ... our Princess,
gossamer silk replaced with steel blade, last seen
bravely entering the gloaming as the last fairy firefly shimmered,
silently winked, blinked one last time.

by Margaret Bednar, June 1, 2019

This is linked with "Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Art Flash 55"  I would love to have honored Galen with a short 55 word story - but this was hard enough for me to write.  I tried to give a nod to the fairy tale like quality AND the sinister vibe I get from this image.  A bit out of my comfort zone but it was fun.

My poems don't usually take a long time for me to write but this one did.  I'm not completely satisfied with this but I've got to go cook dinner!

note:  cocksfoot is another name for orchard grass and meadow sage (salvia) is deer resistant.

9 comments:

Ornery Owl of Naughty Netherworld Press and Readers Roost said...

I wasn't able to condense it to 55 words either--especially since I chose a Rondeau as my form!
You have created a striking fairy tale with your poem.
Say...I really do need to cook dinner too!

Magaly Guerrero said...

I really like the last stanza, what it says and the placement of it. We can miss so much, if we don't look to see who (what?) is pointing us the right way. In the case of our princess, a sharp knife seems to help too--all those brambles, I suppose.

Jim said...

Not completely satisfied translates for you as not coming up with one word that would make it better. Your imagery paints a scene as striking as the one Eli engraved. We have to spray some of our flowers with "Deer and Rabbit Repellent" to train the rabbits that ours doesn't belong to nice Mr. Macgregor. They are like pets.
..

Kerry O'Connor said...

Margaret, I really appreciate that you set your imagination to the task which was out of your comfort zone. I think you have produced a most unique response to the illustration, with the descriptions of before and after. You took in the tiniest details, like the flowers in her hair and left the ending open-ended. I am very impressed by what you have achieved.

Kim M. Russell said...

You’ve created a world and told a whole tale in this poem, Margaret, which whetted my imagination and took me out of myself for a while, which I needed this morning. I love the shift between the beauty of the opening stanzas and the ‘phantom forest where lilies closed against darkness, drooped, and dropped’. The taste of vineyard and vine was a forewarning! I love that, without a knight to take up the challenge, the brave princess replaced her gossamer silk with a steel blade and strode into the gloaming.

Rommy said...

I felt like a kid in pjs with a cup of hot cocoa in hand while I was reading this. I really want to know how it ends--you did such a good job describing the set up.

Sanaa Rizvi said...

One word.. wow!!!❤️ I love the descriptive quality of this piece especially; "A tempest blew our way, pristine wilderness now a phantom forest where lilies closed against darkness, drooped, and dropped."❤️

brudberg said...

This is a wonderful fairytale where the knight is the princess. It seems to end in a cliffhanger, but I hope it went well...

Susie Clevenger said...

Beautifully written..I didn't see a fairy tale in the image, but I am so glad you did. Love all the details you pulled from the drawing. Amazing!