Recess by Mary McCarthy

Harlequin's Carnival by Joan Miro, 1925.

Recess

Free time
in the magician’s
workshop
and all the elementals
dance with joy
escaping the alembics
lamps and holding spells
to rise like festive
helium balloons
to spin and bow
and pirouette-
as snakes and ladders
tilt and slide
as jacks jump out
of boxes
and acrobats leap
arms reaching
for the next catch
across this
animated space
full
of riotous cacophony
threatening to blow itself
out of the window
up to the moon

Mary C. McCarthy

Mary McCarthy has always been a writer, but spent most of her working life as a Registered Nurse. She has had many publications in journals, including Earth's Daughters, Caketrain, and The Evening Street Review, among others. She has only recently discovered the vibrant poetry communities on the internet, where there is so much to explore and enjoy.

This poem was written as part of the ekphrastic 20 Poem Challenge.