“Missives Accomplished”

Missives Accomplished

There is an entwining twirl
in the script of certain centuries, a circlet
of the deliberate that, like the spiked
trim of armor, serves
a purpose beyond the
decorative.

The crossed “S” of Sworn, the ribboned
“B” of Beloved, the Ionic pillar that
leads into Forthwith–an unwinding calligraphy that, like
a curl lodged in
a locket, binds us
no matter how difficult the general flow
of characters,

tethering us to the half-moon brow
soon to be lost in childbirth, the shifting smoke of
gunpowder, the blue-black breast of
a recorded slave, a quill
that once took flight;

even the parchment, like the globe itself,
(or time), refusing to stay flat
and simple,
the swirling letters dark
wicks upon its lanterned waves.

***************************************************

Agh!  The above is my draft poetic offering for Tess Kincaid’s the Mag.  Tess posts a picture prompt, and the picture is my version of the this week’s, a painting, Still Life, 1670, detail by Jean François de Le Motte.                                 .

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26 Comments on ““Missives Accomplished””

  1. Kutamun's avatar Kutamun Says:

    Wow, Maniac, your words transported me, so inspired, so full of feeling. So much of you in them . The letters and objects came to life for me, and i was avle to dance with them cor a while, thank you.

  2. jinksy's avatar jinksy Says:

    A calligraphic masterpiece, methinks…

  3. David King's avatar David King Says:

    Stupendous take on the prompt! I am completely blown away by it. Definitely genius level is this!

  4. brian miller's avatar brian miller Says:

    haha…did you mean to highlight the BS…that was a nice easter egg hidden in there if so…lol….some really fantastic imagery esp in that last bit on the globe and quill, the blue black breast of slave…

  5. Old Ollie's avatar Old Ollie Says:

    you are using imagery in a perfect way…this is amazing: even the parchment, like the globe itself,
    (or time), refusing to stay flat

  6. hedgewitch's avatar hedgewitch Says:

    I love this karin–it evokes the past in such a human way, makes it shimmer up out of the ghosts of human hands, human effort, and stare at us as briefly as a candle flame about to be blown out–so hard to make the past live in a time that can’t be bothered with anything except today’s ‘status update’ on facebook. Apologies for being late to get here–early night last night.

  7. janehewey's avatar janehewey Says:

    i love the script running through your script. so beautifully multi-layered. “tethering us to the half moon brow” captured my heart in this one. lovely, k. ~jane

    • ManicDdaily's avatar ManicDdaily Says:

      Thanks very much. The whole thing was weaving in and out of my head all day, not quite right, which was why the “agh”. Still don’t know, took out a lot – in my case, that’s just about always good. k.

  8. SueAnn's avatar SueAnn Says:

    Very much like a treasure hunt. Lovely
    Hugs
    SueAnn

  9. ManicDdaily's avatar ManicDdaily Says:

    Thanks, Sue Ann. (Hugs back.)

  10. Tess Kincaid's avatar Tess Kincaid Says:

    A lovely curl through the centuries here…excellent…


  11. I like how you focused on an aspect of the image and gave it life and color. I specially like:

    the swirling letters dark
    wicks upon its lanterned waves.


  12. I love how you detailed the old fashioned calligraphy. I think their way of writing in those days was so beautiful, somewhat messy with the ink but, the style of the curves and curls and such was very nice to see. The history you bought into it is wonderful too. The mention of the slaves, gunpowder.
    A really lovely interpretation of the pic.

  13. seingraham's avatar seingraham Says:

    Everything I would say has been said, karen, is it? This is so lovely and clever and I really love what you’ve done with the artwork …very special

    http://thepoet-tree-house.blogspot.ca/2012/06/love-letters-of-promises-and-regret.html


  14. I ‘ink’ this is my favourite one so far!


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