Tuesday, January 31, 2012

'Pine Grove'


A response to a visual writing prompt from Margo Roby (Wordgathering.)

 Ivan Shishkin Forest Reserve. Pine Grove.  1881
 

 ~Pine Grove~

I’ve been to this painting,
I know its every stick,
And stump, every needle,
The artist has put so
Painstakingly in just
The right places.

I used to be bothered
By its sheer realism,
I could not see behind
Almost a photograph,
A pine grove, that was just
That: a pine grove.

Now I’m older, kinder,
Less complicated,
I travel this painting,
I sail its seven seas
Of wooded land, with pines –
As masts – upright.

I think of ancient Greece,
The cold hearted gods,
The Parthenon, the war
Mongering Athena,
The marble stalks that shoot,
And reach the sky.

I see a flock of girls,
Slender and tall, in their
Sarafans, hair braided,
Stepping out of the dark,
Getting ready to dance,
Waiting for me.



Live for the Love of it,
The Happy Amateur

10 comments:

  1. Love the thought of "pines as masts." Beautiful.

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    1. Thank you very much, so nice to see you here again! :-)

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  2. YES! It worked, didn't it? I love it.

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    1. Thank you, Margo! I kind of like it, too :-)
      I'm so glad the blogger 'allowed' you to leave a comment, nice to see you here!

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  3. Your trees were masts...mine sea kelp! Word play is soooo much fun.

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  4. Thank you for visiting! Now I'm off to read yours, so curious about the 'sea kelp'!

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  5. Sasha, I love the fourth stanza. Very nicely done piece.

    Pamela

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    1. Thank you, Pamela! I did feel that the painting and I 'clicked' this time. :-)

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  6. This is marvelous!oh so rich with great lines...'sheer realism' for sure...I want to walk into that painting and be swallowed up in the shadows for a little while!

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    1. Thank you, Janet. I would just love to step inside that forest now...

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