I hate the smell of acrylic
on my spoon as I scoop
breakfast. This morning
I had aubergine with
a titanium white side.
And when I drew the
curtains they drew back
streaks of ochre on my
threadbare suit. Of course,
there isn’t any thread at all.
I wish that magic
felt at all magical.
I wish that wishes
couldn’t come true,
and that when I used
to stare at the framed
bedroom on the wall
when he was beating
me, I wish I’d never
wished to escape.
When I look through
the window to what
should be trees and
fields to run further
into I see a wall of
phthalo blue.
And when I dare to
turn around to that
fourth wall I see him
waiting with a brush
in hand to beat the
devil out of me as
he paints more bars
onto this cage I made.
I wish that magic
felt at all magical
or at the very least
that I’d never have
to feel again.
Description of Work:
This is a poem about a person trapped in a painting because of a wish they made to escape an abusive situation that backfired horribly.
Description of Process:
My first thought when I saw the prompt was, "what would it actually be like to live in a painting?" Not just the pretty sights, but the rest of the senses. Everything you taste or smell is paint. Whenever you touch anything, assuming reality is not frozen into place, you would get paint back on you, and the only texture would be smooth and wet. Quite frankly it would be a form of hell. So my next question was, why did this person end up in a form of torture? I've been interested in monkey's paws lately, so I thought a wish gone wrong would be an interesting approach. It had to be a generic escape wish without thinking of the ramifications. I could have made it any number of things the person was escaping, but I chose an abusive situation because it let me make more Bob Ross references (his paint colors and "beat the devil out of it.") It also tied in better into the theme because it explores both halves of the prompt.
About the Author:
Eitan Perlin
Eitan Perlin studied mathematics and philosophy, but found a love for poetry in the past two years. He works full time in a small consulting company in the DC area. He has been published in KLIO and Prospectus, Wingless Dreamer, Just Femme, and Dandy, and has a forthcoming publication in The Parliament literary magazine.
Image credit: Aurora Mazzoldi w:it:Aurora_Mazzoldi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
