Photo of Orson Welles Provided by Tess Kincaid at Magpie Tales
Tough Guy
Look down at your own
dark reflection in the glass
and take the measure
of your thick lower lip
set tight to hold your jaw
like stone against the words
you loosed in a too-soon
whisper. Your neck cowers
in the folds of your cotton
shirt, the always perfect knot
of your tie suddenly disrupted
by a stray popped button. Ask
how much sweat it would take
to raise your head high once
more, to recalibrate the angry
tilt of your hat's heavy brim
pulled just low enough to keep
your eyes from seeing into
your walled-off yet ticking
heart. Your left hand's swelled.
Tell me: What pain has it
inflicted that your fingers cannot
straighten except in shadow's
light? Imagine you, talking back,
the hidden face responding to
the pleading tones of self-forgiveness.
© 2012 Maureen E. Doallas
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This poem is my response to today's photo prompt at Magpie Tales. Go here to leave a link to your inspired writing and to read other poets' contributions.
how seldom we see ourselves in another light, much less for who we truly are -- well done Maureen...
ReplyDeletePowerful imagery in this. I could almost feel his presence.
ReplyDeletevery on the spot imagery
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verification makes it really hard to comment. you'd get more comments if you turned it off. i had to do this several times to get it to work.
I like the details of the character, from the neck down to the fingers. Nice write ~
ReplyDeletehttp://everydayamazin.blogspot.ca/2012/06/black-or-white.html
Unfortunately, Zongrik, the amount of spam I get without word verification leaves me no choice but to use it. It's possible to try another picture/word by pressing the appropriate symbol for verification. I use it at others' sites when I have trouble making out the initial word and number that come up.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading and commenting.
Love pleading tones of self-forgiveness.
ReplyDeletenice maureen...really like your closure on this one and sets one to thinking as well at just who they are....
ReplyDeleteEvocative...I heard the button ping...
ReplyDeleteSo real I could almost feel the pounding on my own face! :)
ReplyDeleteWe all need some self-forgiveness...
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah.
ReplyDelete=)
nice imagery!
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