Monochrome
July 13, 2009 by hames-1977
Be still. Please focus. Would you wait
until my iris capture you of snapshots? I am here.
Don’t notice. Your portrait on my mind, I dodged
and burned. Don’t worry. I won’t
over-expose the sequences of the memory
fleshed out from my canister, the last strip of film.
On my negative- your wavelength of light escapes
through my lenses, I would carefully unfold and record.
Don’t look. Deeper. While single color vanishes
with intensity into highlights and into shadows.
Frame by frame, I would filter the black against
the white. Your reality becomes my abstraction.
Would you mind, if I convert the colors of the spectrum,
your seemingly pixilated illusion to just shades of gray?
Tracing back the images in a locomotion, so slow.
My camera obscura. Clear and sharp, as you illuminate
a world forgotten just for once. A neutral silhouette
Don’t notice. Keep focus. Don’t cry. I am here.
Frame by frame, I would filter the black against
the white. Your reality becomes my abstraction.
Such a methodical peeling away of film from the camera! So symbolic of far deeper, raw, sensitive images!
Beautiful!
I like the reassuring feel that the words of this poem leaves to the muse/reader/readers. The photography elements used as metaphor is aptly chosen. The idea of somebody behind the camera taking picture, taking care of everything made each pronouncement even more intimate knowing that with the use of the lenses, everything are magnified.
I like the impressions that this piece is giving me. It brings some thoughts of that character in the movie: The Body Guard played by Kevin Costner.
And oh, the final line, what a way to tighten the grip to make somebody feel safe.
I wish you well.
~ Jeques
Oh, by the way, my art portlfolio is partially ready for viewing. I haven’t posted a lot of pieces yet, but the few pages shown would at least give you an idea where my works is going.
Please check it out in this link.
http://jeques.wordpress.com/jequess-portfolio/
I wish you well.
~ Jeques
“Your reality becomes my abstraction.”
“Don’t cry. I am here.”
…..i took a peek at your status on your profile before proceeding…it says 31- “single”….it makes me wonder why such an eloquent man is now 31 and still single? forgive my curiosity but, is there a woman out there so lucky to be the portrait in most of your poems? whose memory is there on your mind?- who must stay focused, stay still and wait? is there a concrete face out there? a definite smile, an eye, a mouth, a beating heart?
Oh Marvin i am sorry i can not help but ask he he he……i am not expecting an answer though he he, tsk, such a lucky lady…
gemma,
as always, i am thrilled to see your almost cinematic way of reviewing my poem. i picture you as my film critic and i notice that you are a keen observer of details. i am satisfied to know that a poet like you can spot the beauty of words in its miniature form. that is a rare feat, which now i understand that haiku writers are masters of few words but enormous in meanings and symbolism.
enjoy your winter days there in australia.
cheers,
marvin
jeques,
gemma observes the miniature details of the poem but your style is that you observe in a larger than life perspective. you had a way to connect the images to other works, in other medium and in a different millieu, on which i am impressed.
how clever, is that comment that a photographer magnifies the small details on its lenses. it struck a spark of thought, that yeah, writers are like that. poets are like that. art magnifies a thought so simple but has its ripple effect to the humanity transcending generations.
oh, the movie the Bodyguard, i have watched that film too, is that so? forgive me, if I can’t remember. see, your memory never fails you and it has waited a long time to connect it with the ideas of this poem. such is the power of art, in whatever medium they manifest.
that final line, it just came at the last minute, when i want to end the poem. actually the poem struggled to find its way like this. i intend it to be controlled by a ready storyline i have just prepared beforehand. but now, i can say, i just let it slipped to come alive on its own. each day, i discover new meanings why it was written and my hand is just a humble instrument.
i already visited your art portfolio and i have dropped some lines to inspire you. that painting solitude, i am really attached to it. it resembles my sentiments and to what this blog is all about.
best of times,
marvin
zen,
that woman is my muse. honestly, i just internalize it, like i am just playing it out on a stage. the emotion for this poem, i have lots of them, in my past. but let’s just say, that is for the sake of art.
when i was in college, i have written a poem entitled “poets should never marry” after watching a movie of kate winslet, which i forgot the title. it was a story of a sculptor who fell in love with his cousin, even if he is already committed with someone else. the sculptor fell in love by the beauty of his cousin and thinks that his muse is alive.
actually that poem when it was published, elicited puzzled look from my co-staffers in the university paper. some friends have actually asked me why. and i was lost for words. somehow, the words that i have written there might have boomeranged on me, that’s why.
he he he
cheers,
marvin