April sunshine has given me the courage to take on the challenge of writing Ekphrastic poems. I have never attempted to translate the emotion from paintings, drawings, sculptures, or other visual works of art into words. The challenge will require me to dig deep to tap into the passions such works of art create inside a person. Most of what I write will be speculative. There will be times when I will place myself into the mind of the artist. Still other times, I will express the emotions I experience gazing at the work of art. If I get creative, I might even tell the story from an element within the artwork. This Ekphrastic poem is based on a painting by Salvador Dali entitled The Persistence of Memory.
The Persistence of Memory
Tick, tock, tick I can feel myself run down,
One tick and tock at a time.
The ants make themselves at home on my surface,
I don’t even dare chime.
My nature I am forced to suppress
To ease the artists scheme
To stop all time by his dream.
He plans to melt me with his mind,
Without any reason or rhythm.
Floundering here on a seashore painted in blue and brown.
I am the closed clock
The only one able to tick and tock
There is a monster asleep on the sand
Held down by a melted clock
Who was once my co-worker keeping time
I don’t think the evil artist can understand
He needs us to mark of the persistence of memory
The surrealistic monster with brush in hand
Dreams his toxic dream into infinity,
He can be as advent-garde as he wants to be
As long as he lets me tick and tock
Because I am a unique metal clock.
The one who haunts his hallucination.
The one who refuses to die.
I am more than a nighttime manifestation,
The single one he cannot fry.
I am the essence of time.
Who is Molly Shea?
Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh. To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.
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Great work 👍
Thank you for stopping by and reading friend. May you have a blessed day.
I drop by every day I can. I always do. A blessed day to you as well.
Thank you. I try to do the same with your posts because I enjoy reading the stuff you write.
Then it’s mutual 😊