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Shutter

She says “I can’t stay in ghost towns”

and I admire the sentiment

almost as much

as I admire the sentence: six syllables

betray a poetry of spirit.

She is an artist in exile

from purpose, confusing the music of

her shutter

with the chiming of a clock.

She hasn’t considered

that every picture is a piece

of a puzzle unseen,

and the day she gives them to the air

is the day they fall together in

a snarl of invisible strings.

She might

laugh.

Hi Andrew,

Welcome, and thanks for posting your first post. This is an interesting
poem. I’m not quite sure how to interpret it. Perhaps it’s better if I just try to ‘feel’ it. I really like the central phrase:

“She is an artist in exile
from purpose, confusing the music of
her shutter
with the chiming of a clock.”

Would I be way off base if I thought it had something to do with a person suffering some mild form of dementia? It just reminds me a bit of my mother who did suffer from one.

Sherry

Hi Sherry. Thanks. I had almost forgotten I'd posted this.

The poem is about a problem of the mind, but not specifically dementia. It is more about a psychological malaise or "bad outlook". I wrote it for a friend of mine who is a very talented photographer but frequently depressed and severely lacking in confidence. I worry one day she'll stop taking pictures, though I doubt a poem can change that.

I like that you saw your mother in this. If you relate to the poem, I suppose it is a "success".

Thanks again,
AJ