Winds of Change

By Jacqueline M Franklin

Ekphrastic Poetry: Interpretive poetry from a photo--artwork--object. From romance to drama to poetry just for fun.  Enjoy the read. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jacqueline M Franklin
• Release date: Sep 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393450085

Jacqueline M Franklin

I am an Indie author who loves to tell a story. I've published many books on Amazon, from poetry to contemporary. However, Historical is my favorite genre. I hope my writing makes you laugh, cry, or touches your emotions in some way throughout your journey. If so, then I have proven with love and the instinct to survive against the odds that anything is possible.

Book preview

POEM 1

...POEM CONCEPT FROM ARTWORK -OR- PHOTO...

THIS PHOTO WAS OF A woman with despair written on her face as the Autumn leaves swirled around her head.

. . .

WINDS OF CHANGE

. . .

The winds of change swirled around me

on that day in Autumn while he walked

out of my life—leaving me to stand

alone after angrily declaring life

was mundane and how I had

become a bothersome bore

.

Not once did he look back to see

evident despair etched upon my

face from so many years of tears

amidst deceit among countless

quarrels that had taken their toll

.

Months later brought a knock at my door

with a tale about how his winds of change

thought he had become a bothersome bore

now his days were laden with turmoil

and life held no meaning without me

.

I smiled for all the anguish he had endured

as his burden unfurled—then I told him how

sorry I was for his misery—but I don’t require

an encore of our yesterdays that were full of

deceitful infidelity—as my winds of change

blessed me with a new love that I treasure

and isn't in the least—a bothersome bore

POEM 2

...POEM CONCEPT FROM ARTWORK OR PHOTO...

THE PHOTO IS THAT OF a couple with the man's eyes telling a story as he looks over her shoulder.

. . .

YOUR EYES

. . .

I should have seen the lie in

your eyes as you said ‘forever us’

I could have spared myself such

heartache because for the rest of

my life when I feel the heat

from hot sultry nights

stars in the black sky

and a death-like stillness in the air

I will feel your sweet body clinging to mine

-Yes-

I should have known

your eyes told me so

POEM 3

...POEM CONCEPT FROM ARTWORK -OR- PHOTO...

A WOMAN WHO IS LOOKING intently at the screen of her laptop.

. . .

WILL HE?

. . .

He's so close in thought that I

feel as if I could reach out and touch

him, even though we have not met save

in my thoughts and dreams as I meander

around this room while yearning for him

.

I need only to shut my eyes and

envision what he looks like as I

imagine his smile from afar and

conjure up his scent while in my

mind it lingers and teases me so

.

Perhaps it is in the unknown

the constant turmoil and angst

that haunts and plagues me so

.

Does he even know I exist?

Am I but a passing fancy he

thinks naught a whit about?

.

As I continue to ponder on

when next we might speak

will his heart skip a beat?

.

Will he wonder and yearn for me

as my need for him intensifies?

.

Or will he just fade away as

quickly as he came into

my life, my thoughts

and my heart—

. . .

Will He?

POEM 4

...POEM CONCEPT FROM ARTWORK -OR- PHOTO...

THE PHOTO WAS AN HOURGLASS that was partially buried in the sand on a beach.

. . .

TIME

. . .

Time, it waits for

no one, rich or poor

.

If time were really on my side

I’d take myself for a very long ride

.

Perhaps I'd end up on some sandy beach

sit and ponder its magnificent roar and outreach

.

Maybe I would run free, take serene walks in the rain

allow it to minister to me and somehow soothe my pain

.

I would remember how my days as

a small child seemed so long while

thinking time can’t touch me—oh

how could I have been so wrong?

.

If time were really on my side and

I had time to kill—I think perchance

I'd find my true love and drink fine wine

then with Bocelli’s song, we would dance

.

I would take more time to hold my children

to my breast and let them feel all my love

.

Then I'd turn my head to the sky above and

ask 'Him' for more time, be free as a dove

.

But if 'He' deemed that my time was over

I'd kneel, give thanks, I had a good run

.

On the day I reach the end of my ride, and

my loved ones shed tears for me, I hope

they realize how they mattered to me

.

Then one day I'll float upon a breeze and wipe away

their tears while placing a kiss upon their cheek

.

I hope they remember I'll be their comfort

from the storm clouds forming in life

because I'll be watching over them

as time waits for no one and

grief just takes

. . .

...time...

POEM 5

...POEM CONCEPT FROM ARTWORK -OR- PHOTO...

THE ARTWORK IS OF A single chair in the middle of a room, which casts a melancholy atmosphere. When I saw this, I thought about my grown son, so the memories came flooding back.

. . .

THE ROOM

. . .

I looked into my son’s room today

yet I felt the emptiness everywhere

although joy-filled memories were

there too—so much I let slip a tear

.

Silence greets me now

.

Was it only yesterday that his laughter

and first words filled the air—even his

first steps—memories amongst my tears

.

Silence greets me now

.

If not yesterday, then perhaps it was the day before

that I chased those shadow monsters off the walls

Ma, they frightened me! I just can't sleep!

These silly tears just won't flee

.

Silence greets me now

.

I remember my son calling from this room too

Where’s my baseball, and catcher’s mitt, Ma?

And, darn it, I can't find my basketball neither

Oooh! Go away—you never-ending tears

.

Silence greets me now

.

It was right here when my son swore off all girls

declaring, So vain they are! But then Chelsea

called, I'll pick you up for the dance at eight

These plaguing tears—go away!

.

Silence greets me now

.

One day my son hugged me in this room.

I’ll be back soon, Ma, so don’t cry

I’m all grown, can’t you see?

Tears of joy, they come and go

.

Silence greets me now

POEM 6

...POEM CONCEPT FROM ARTWORK -OR- PHOTO...

PHOTO OF A LONELY LOOKING woman standing on a bridge in the fog on a dismal day while holding an umbrella.

. . .

THE GREY VEIL

. . .

Every day is just the same as the last

and the more I walk in the rain

you appear in the gray veil

of my loneliness past

as sorrow resides

within my

soul

Without warning, my mind’s eye blurs

and you begin slipping further away

until once again I’m left alone

even though my love stirs

as sorrow resides

within my

soul

Yet, when tomorrow arrives once more

I’ll pray that you’ll reach for me

as my desire for love returns

with blessed profusion

as sorrow resides

within my

soul

In fleeting moments, I have pondered our

forever vows, 'til death do us part' while

the rain ceases to lift its gray veil of

despair—even though love lives

on in actuality as mourning

continues to taunt me

as sorrow resides

within my

soul

POEM 7

...POEM CONCEPT FROM ARTWORK -OR- PHOTO...

PART I & 2 WAS INSPIRED by the artwork of a cabin in a secluded woods by a lake. Since it was so well received, my fellow writers urged me to write a book based on it, so, of course, I did! I thought the best way to connect the two was by using the poem as the prologue for the new book.

. . .

.

.

THE CABIN

Part I of II

. . .

. . .  Her Story . . .

. . .

Every year I come to the cabin on this

our special day to remember and reminisce

as my fingers trace over this old picture of us

and reasons bombard about why he didn't return

although resolution as to why remains unanswered

.

I stretch my memories back to when he and I were one

while closing my eyes and feel his touch upon my skin

the exhilaration of our loving each other, but then again

recalling these things can lead to heartbreak once more

.

Yet, nostalgia has me thinking about our special song

when he'd look into my eyes with a grin and wink

dancing under the moonlight