Displaced, by Lavina Blossom

Homesickness, by Rene Magritte (Belgium), 1940.

Displaced

Lonesome, possessing the accoutrements
of wildness, yet stuck against the parapet.
A permanent sentry.  Nothing to hunt.
Savagery dried up, the wings
accompanied by arms that have taken their place,
His fleshy feet sweat in leather shoes.
The nails on toes and fingers he keeps clipped short.
His fur:  reserved for head and groin.
This jungle:  pale green cement, well lit
by an orange haze of sociability.  King
in a foreign domain, well suited 
to the times, a mind clean and bereft
of improvisation and surprise.
​
Lavina Blossom

This poem was written as part of the surprise ekphrastic challenge on Magritte's paintings.
​
Lavina is a painter and mixed media artist as well as a poet. Her poems have appeared in
various journals, including 3Elements Review, The Innisfree Poetry Journal, Kansas
Quarterly, The Literary Review, The Paris Review, Poemeleon, and Prompt and
Circumstance. She is an Associate Editor of Poetry for Inlandia: a Literary Journey.
And she teaches visual art to seniors.