Purple Words: Drawing Upon Poe

Drawing Upon Poe

The Drawing was of a king on his throne

with a shaft of light illuminating the lizard

-like thing crouching before the dais.

It was based on Poe’s poem ‘Coliseum:’

“Whereby glides, spectre-like, unto his marble home

lit by the wan light of the Hornèd moon,

the swift and silent lizard of the stones.”

“Such a romantic scene!” she said mockingly.

I’m too stunned by the sound of her voice to respond.

Wasn’t it just yesterday that we screamed at each other?

I tell her, “It’s just a sketch. It’s just Art!”

She believes that I have imagined her as the lizard

when I’ve only drawn upon the lines of the poem.

The thing with Art is that little of it pertains

to Everyday existence and what does

is a commentary on the difference between Reality

and what is being perceived.

This drawing was just a drawing, not a commentary.

Reality was too messy to be described with these

brief lines upon the page.

---Purple Mark, 10/20/2012

Purple Prompts:                                                                         

1. "Here, where on golden throne the monarch lolled, glides, spectre-like, unto his marble home, lit by the wan light of the hornèd moon, the swift and silent lizard of the stones!” E.A. Poe ‘The Coliseum’ Tales, Poems and Essays of Edgar Allan Poe. (Collins, 1972), Page 446.
2. “I’m too stunned by the sound of her voice to respond. Wasn’t it just yesterday that we screamed at each other... It’s just a sketch. It’s just art.” Barry Lyga. The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl. (Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006), Page 184.