Iphigene here!
Today, I share another poem from the Open Spaces series. This series were poems inspired by paintings I made. I did the series as an exercise in writing. This is the last poem of the series. You can read Open Spaces #2 (here) and Open Spaces#3 (here).
Thanks to Frankie and Mary Lee of A Year of Reading for hosting today’s poetry friday. Check them out for more poetry!
Open Spaces#4: Womb & Freedom
To mimic the womb
We curl our bodies,
Hide in dark places
Praying for comfort,
For safety.
I hid in dark places,
Nooks and crannies,
Beneath tables
And stairs, nursing
My broken soul
Like a fetus, grasping
For warmth—for
Love that envelopes
You in darkness
I waited and
Waited
But the darkness I knew
Was cold, consuming
Filling my beaten up
Soul with promises
Of loneliness,
Rejection and a misery
Everlasting
To be swallowed
Or to escape
To mimic birds
We hold our hands up
In elation and freedom
Running across wide spaces
Jumping high to touch
The sky
Escape,
pushing out
Of tight spaces,
Stepping into the light
I run
Run
Run
Run
Endlessly
Into an emptiness
A silence of heart
Of mind
Of spirit
Into the arms
Of freedom
Into the solitude
And quiet
Of nothingness
Gathering Books 
I commented on Donna’s post about the turning point in her poem. That’s what I love best about yours, too!
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Thanks Marylee. I read Donna’s poem and indeed turning points are wonderful…when things become hopeful.
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Yes, I also like how your poem shifts in the middle and alights , giving us a feeling of freedom and release by the end. Didn’t realize you were a painter too! Such talent. 🙂
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Hi Jama,
I don’t want the poem to be sad, i want it to be hopeful as i think of open spaces as that. I’ve only returned to painting in 2014, fairly green in the whole thing. Thanks for dropping by
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Do you paint regularly, Iphigene? I really like your painting. “To mimic birds/We hold our hands up/In elation and freedom” is lovely.
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Hi Tabatha,
Yes. I try to paint once a week, usually on a Sunday. There are weeks I dont get enough time, but that’s rare.
I’m glad you enjoyed those lines. Thanks for dropping by.
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I read, then looked at your painting, then read again, Iphigene. That hopeful turning as others mention seems also in the raised arm. Beautiful images in both, a story of hope. Your series is a life’s capturing. I imagine you finding it in the future and loving the journey taken and ending well.
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Hi Linda,
You read the poem so closely. The series, even the paintings, reflect my own desire and hope, while i have made the turn i have yet to reach the destination. Thank you.
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I love your paintings, what a beautiful pairing with such powerful words.
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Thanks Jane for appreciating the poem as well as the painting.
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Very effective repetition of Run. It sets the poem (and reader) free. Your painting is really lovely, too.
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Thank you.
The run repetition took a while yo write, couldn’t figure out how many was enough. Thanks for pointing that bit out.
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Beautiful–both painting and poem. I love how the poem turns toward hope.
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Hi Kay,
Thank you. I realize this is something i prefer now creating a balance of dark and light in my poems.
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