AUSTRALIA ~ The Antipodes

AUSTRALIA ~ The Antipodes
I love a sunburnt country / A land of sweeping plains / Of ragged mountain ranges / Of droughts and flooding rains / I love her far horizons / I love her jewel-sea / Her beauty and her terror / The wide brown land for me / ~ Dorothea Mackellar (1885-1968)

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Monday, July 2, 2012

She was Ophelia...



Ophelia by Odilon Redon



Mirage
Sleeping young face melting in 
Some oasis rain puddle
Alongside
Some random fallen leaves
And flowers


Soon
The relentless sun
Snuffs
The last light
Burns the cursed moment
Gone


 Linking to:
Magpie Tales #124
Poetry Pantry #105

NOTE: For those who think I have re-invented the Ophelia story, I have not.
Instead, I looked at Redon's image and thought he seemed to capture the shape of a rain puddle.
And that's where my idea began.
As if, like a mirage, (my opening word) the innocent face of Ophelia appears in the rain puddle.
Like a brief, legendary moment has surfaced, re-incarnating her final moments, until the sun dries up the puddle, and she is gone once again.
Ophelia's story remains intact.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I kept thinking of you in Australia reading this - of relentless sun, or mirage, of reflections in puddles. Very nice. k.

Stafford Ray said...

Shakespeare's Ophelia drowned, but I see you knew that! I can relate to thinking of the sun as a water thief!

Mary said...

Well written, Gemma; but it feels sad.

(Visiting from Poetry Pantry, and glad you are joining in)

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Such a lovely interpretation of the painting, Gemma.

Brian Miller said...

nice...really like those last couple lines...the burning away of the moment...nicely done...

Naquillity said...

i love that painting. and your words... that last stanza... great~ such a tragedy, her death. have a wonderful night~

brenda w said...

Excellent response, Gemma. I love the sun's strength at the end.

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

Beautiful words for a stark theme.

Kerry O'Connor said...

Yes, you grasped that ephemeral moment with emotive precision. Wonderful.

Rinkly Rimes said...

Some oasis rain-puddle.....nice.

Jennifer Wagner said...

I can picture the swiftly evaporating visage...nicely done.

Berowne said...

Poignant lines on the Ophelia story...

robkistner said...

yes -- and all, soon gone... hi gemma, liked this piece...

Eileen T O'Neill ..... said...

Gemma,

I think you have painted your own version of Ophelia with your words..


Eileen

Anonymous said...

new day, sun burns the cursed moment, we start again, that's good

<a href="http://zongrik.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/where-are-the-koi/>where are the koi</a>

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Beautifully done.

Anna :o]

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