Edvard Munch: Melancholy by Alarie Tennille

Melancholy, by Edvard Munch, 1894.

Edvard Munch: Melancholy

Melancholy takes a vacation
by the sea. Sits in the sun, head
in one hand, the other hand a fist.
Surrounding him – the boulders
of his regret and sorrow. He likes
keeping them in view. Whenever
the surf begins to shush his mind,
he scrapes his knuckles
on the stones. Drowning
would be too decisive.
Tomorrow he'll go home
unchanged.

Alarie Tennille

Alarie Tennille was born and raised in Portsmouth, Virginia, and graduated from the University of Virginia in the first class admitting women. She became fascinated by fine art at an early age, even though she had to go to the World Book Encyclopedia to find it. Today she visits museums everywhere she travels and spends time at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, where her husband is a volunteer guide. Alarie’s poetry book, Running Counterclockwise, contains many ekphrastic poems. Please visit her at alariepoet.com.