Siren Songs

artwork by Jeanie Tomanek
courtesy of The Mag 184

she conversed with birds

perched in trees, she made music

 

with branches strummed, the strings

plucked like a harp, heard for miles

 

luring men she scrambled

on the sidewalk below

 

 

 

Kiss Me Aqua

Picture prompt courtesy of The Mag 179

You parked the antique car

and kissed me, aqua

 

eyes lifted 

one deflated heart

to the heavens

where I danced

on moonbeams.

 

100 balloons,

a blissful high

long enough to trust again

 

until you confessed~

I was too far gone.

Ice Breaker

Stanley Kubrick for Look Magazine, 1949
Pic prompt courtesy of The Mag174

In the doorway

where she stood

 

a blur of self-doubt

masked assuredness,

 

heat lightning a brief flash

pursuant task-- confidence.

 

Back straight, chest back

each breath a forward step

 

sipping courage, no regret

she offered him a light.

 

 

~~

 

Poetic Bloomings Prompt#113:Hook, Line and Sinker

The Mag 170

Ponytail by Last Exit
Pic prompt courtesy of The Mag 170

~

 

Flag Day--

the horse's tail

stirs the air

 

~~

Dandelion Dreams

Young Woman Picking the Fruit of Knowledge, 1892 by Mary Cassatt
Picture prompt courtesy of The Mag167

Wasted, the years

counting on a dream,

a wish to blow away

her life,

as if

 change came

through osmosis.

 

 

~~

 

Also shared with Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads Open Link Monday 

Bye-Bye

Not to be Reproduced, 1937 by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte
Pic prompt courtesy of The Mag 161

You reproduced our vows,

and try to seek forgiveness now?

 

The lies you left behind

tattooed within my mind,

 

written on the face you hid

in another woman's bed.

 

Your image just an echo,

a double-vision foe.

 

All I want to see

as you walk away from me

 

is the back of your greasy head.

 

 

Diamonds

Meal Beach, Burra Isles, Shetland by Robin Gosnall
Photo prompt courtesy of The Mag 159

diamonds dance on clear water, 

the sun sparkles

like a ballerina on stage

 

Closed

Don't touch him,

don't expect him to

open up.

 

The arms

he once wrapped

around himself

 

were ripped off

by his wife

 

and all that's left

are burrs.

(part of) Venus de Milo with Drawers, 1936, Salvador Dali
Photo prompt courtesy of The Mag 157

Note: I did not refer to Venus in this poem because my muse wanted to take this in a different direction!

Also shared w/ Poets United: Poetry Pantry #139

Where Witches Roam

Wind of History by Jacek Yerka
Pic prompt courtesy of The Mag 156

where witches roam

a wind enchants

draws victims to

clawed spellbound rants

and waves, they roll

in and out ... in and out

they cause a hole

inside cold hearts

a cauldron seeps

a rage disturbed

a horror steep

so stay away

from haunted homes

where witches roam

and words don't sleep

**

*Also linked to Poets United: Poetry Pantry138*

Conundrum

Pic prompt courtesy of The Mag 154

Central Library, Manchester, U.K., by Robin Gosnall



*

Tangled

in her mind,

the angles

life defined- -

a jumping point,

illusory

imagery

where

Little Women
live inside,

her obsessive

nagging pride.

*


 

Texas Winters

Pic courtesy of The Mag 151

Don't think me pink,

upper crust is not my style.

 

I'll take afternoon

tea over vodka,

but busy bees

I'll do without.

 

Underneath

this soft, warm sweater

I wear a string bikini--

I've been known to change

faster than catwoman

(meow).

 

Yesterday the sweater

was my cushion, after all.

 

Winter in Texas is just that way.

Encore, Please



Object to be Destroyed by Man Ray

Mesmerizing flames
within the hearth
crackled as I
tried to warm my back,
then ease into the chair
for full effect.

You watched me
from the wooden bench,
fingers resting
on the ivories,
palms on edge
of desire as you
seduced me
with your eyes

caressed my breasts;
the piano came
to life with a
metronomic
symphony.


*


Prompt inspirations:
The Mag 146

Slick

Inspiration- The Mag145
Photo source here

 

a red throne, ego
your demise
to sit alone
in other's eyes

while I
swept the floors
beneath your feet
watched life crumble
in defeat

Prepared

Squall, 1986, by Andrew Wyeth
Photo prompt courtesy of The Mag 144

Your practicality breeds pandemonium-

on one side, a plethora of contradictions clash

the other, a crystalline constancy makes not a splash

and I remain in the middle, prepared for either one.

Dispersed No More

Verdun, 1917 by Felix Vallotton
Coutesy of The Mag 143

Black and white spotlights,

ocher, midnight blue

over fields of golden wheat-

-geometric fate, the weight

of clouded views

converge.


 

Clandestine Excuses

Sick Woman, 1665, by Jan Steen
Photo prompt courtesy of The Mag 138

the same old story every week
headaches, chills, lethargy

he thought she might be terminal
so he gathered docs and clergy

unaware a secret kept
stuffed within her pillow

made her ill, recondite truth;
she'd rather be with Willow

*

Also sahred with Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads Open Link Monday

Passing Through

It Must Be Time For Lunch Now, 1979, by Francesca Woodman
Photo prompt courtesy of The Mag 137

a spurt of growth

a nudge, a grudge

in the wee hours of the night

a need for food, his only plight

so I get up with him

(a banana might

settle the unrest)--

 he throws up,

no more grudge just guilt

hours of upset, down

for the count

until it makes its way through

exhausted, but he's ready

for lunch

already

 

 

Wrecked

Flying Down, 2006, by David Salle
Picture prompt: The Mag 136

 

A tumble, stumble

dip

down swirls of

orange(E) tangy

dreams

I spiral through,

a
nose-
dive
to hell;  

while you

glide away

in the plane

we once built. 

Dessert

Summer Night, 1913, by Albert Bloch
Picture prompt from The Mag 133 

A blue moon,
hands in pants
absurdity, obscure
(per)chance when
ghostly demons come
to play swirly, curly
pleasure points, a milky
dream-like cherry stance.

Grounded

Under Windsor Bridge, 1912, by Adolphe Valette
Courtesy of The Mag

grounded, the man

bides time

caramel fog the layer

of descent

hope, a bridge

to heaven