Rene Magritte, Not To Be Reproduced, 1937
Oil on Canvas, 81.3 cm x 65 cm
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Image Provided Courtesy Magpie Tales
Behind
The story behind the story
is the art
of the fiction
that what is
is not,
or could be, depending
on where you stand —
behind bars,
or in the glare,
behind the curve
or just behind the times.
Examine the back-
ground closely, look
carefully to see who is
behind you,
who cannot keep
up, who goes
behind the scenes
behind your back
and lies;
who, wet behind
the ears, learns not
to hang behind,
how, coming from
behind with one arm
tied behind your back,
you trail behind; why
putting the past behind
you sometimes
is all you need to do
to get out from
behind the eightball.
© 2013 Maureen E. Doallas
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This poem is offered for today's photo prompt at Tess Kincaid's Magpie Tales (see image above). Go here to read other writers' responses to the prompt or to drop a link to your own contribution.
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7 comments:
Wow, nicely penned. Enjoyed the reflections all coming from "behind." Clever write.
Wow, neat poem. Love the first line and how it echoes the painting's dramatic visual. (And I love that you reproduced Not to Be Reproduced!)
A clever juggling of all shades of the idea 'behind'...Well done.
... very nice!!
You chose a theme and you stuck with it - quite successfully. Excellent.
It's fun to see these idioms in your poem and consider the range of meaning. I think different cultures view "behind" in even more ways, with spatial meanings we know nothing of.
Cleverly written. I enjoyed it!
=)
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