somefrogpuppet

I’m currently at a writing camp right now, and my teacher had us write an ekphrasis. It’s basically a poem told from the perspective of a subject in a painting. Here it is:

Ekphrasis about Love

My flesh tells me a story of

your love. I never knew it was 

as simple as candle wax 

sliding from your palm to mine, licking 

holes into my tender chest until

I can see your smile through a constellation of my 

own ribs. Once, I searched myself for 

dead roses. That was before

I knew you could cure me. Before I

believed your fingers could reshape me 

into something crimson and bare. My hands,

flightless birds, ate 

my collarbone into a bloody moon, aching 

for the fever of your lips. That night, no kisses came. 

Your nails dove at me instead, drilling your

perfume into my cheek. 

You smelled like cherries. 

I reach for your warmth but become

lost in a sea of my own body. There’s salt in the crook

of my elbow, and a wet smile 

trailing up my neck, growing wider. If I were

a braver creature, you’d be a storm,

wrapping my graying scars in words

meant only for me. In the end, I see the wings

of another swan and wish 

I were more naive than I am.