Woman With A Jagged Scar: Photo Through A Broken Window (J. Armstead)

It is an image,
a dream of Grace
caught in Time,
imprisoned
by the blink
of a camera's
aperture,
trapped by the lens
of a mechanical
eye.

Naked, her lithe,
sinuous body,
more muscular than 
the average Jane Doe,
is bathed in glowing
silvery light,
the shadows
of the dark room
in which she poses
running like ink
over the contours
of her nudity,

... exposed and yet invulnerable...,

while the cold,
patrician beauty
of her face,
framed by a tumbling
lion's mane
of dark hair,
is stamped with
the cruelty
of a jagged scar,
a lightning bolt
of old pain,
that reveals
the humanity
her Art denies.

She is not
anonymous.

She has survived
the caress
of Life's talons.

The cracks in the glass
of the dirty window's pane
are the bitter smile
of an urban predator.
**************************

Image courtesy of Dreamstime Photographic Stock: "Bruise On a Female Back", by Linnik (Olga Zanchurina), dreamstime_3411577.jpg

Comments

[walter]

I was stunned by this one. This is a very strong poem. I like it a lot Mr Armstead.

[aurora]

Nobody's anonymous, particularly poets and artists. I agree with Walter: a strong poem.

[Robert]

Enjoyed.