Beyond the Window Panes, by Cristina M. R. Norcross

Meditation, by Gabriele Münter (Germany) 1917

Beyond the Window Panes
 
I eat plums by moonlight,
wearing a tulip vase crown.
We haven’t left the house in days.
Outings are for bread and milk
during this time of quarantine.
 
Every room becomes a scene
from a painting,
an imagined destination.
I move about for the self-created surprise
of a change of landscape.
The kitchen becomes a noisy café,
where I eavesdrop on lovers sharing a slice of cake.
The sitting room becomes
an art museum gallery.
I sit on a bench, gazing at the walls,
seeing framed oils of sun-blazed fields
and reclining women on velvet.
 
Every window is a passageway.
The outside looks in and I reach out 
to touch the towering trees
with longing eyes.
Walks are allowed.  I can’t get very far.
So I take long strides,
journeying in the mind 
down a highway that leads from coast to coast.
My feet become wheels.
I drop the plums,
increase my speed,
feel the wind in my hair.
I am finally beyond the window panes.
 
Cristina M. R. Norcross

Cristina M. R. Norcross lives in Wisconsin, is the author of 8 poetry collections and was the editor of Blue Heron Review (2013-2020).  Her latest book is Beauty in the Broken Places (Kelsay Books, 2019).  Cristina’s poems have been published, or are forthcoming, in: Visual Verse, Your Daily Poem, Right Hand Pointing, Verse-Virtual, The Ekphrastic Review, and Pirene’s Fountain, among others.  Her work also appears in numerous print anthologies.  She has helped organize community art and poetry projects, has led workshops, and has also hosted many open mic poetry readings. Cristina is the co-founder of Random Acts of Poetry and Art Day.  Find out more:  www.cristinanorcross.com