Ferrying

“We’re all working for the Pharaoh”–Richard Thompson

A body
in motion through air–
static, turn-
ing, turning,
sparks reflected on water–
turning into earth–

Adjacent
to the sky, do bones
become light?–
currents that
connect flesh to elements,
inseparable,

Opening
until unseen—sounds
felt, not heard–
veins branching
like trees carrying cells that
nourish, then destroy—

A sudden
change in direction,
drowning and
coming up for
more—impossible to tell
what is or isn’t—

Undarking
the night, withering
the sun—what
grows secret,
exposed by shadow?—what grows
wings, rises, takes flight?

 

This was a response to the challenge image above at The Ekphrastic Review. I immediately thought of 2 things:  the world’s refugees attempting to reach safety by boat, and Richard Thompson’s song “Pharaoh”.

My poem wasn’t chosen, but it inspired a collage in the spirit of my thoughts if not exactly a match to my words.  The winning poems posted on The Ekprastic Review can be found here.

And Richard Thompson…