I Read The Ekphrastic Review Fridge Magnet Red, by Alun Robert

Image courtesy of Alun Robert.

I Read The Ekphrastic Review Fridge Magnet Red

Zazzle in the mail drop
Brown package, double sealed
Scissors in my right
Delving with what is left
To open, excited
Then into the kitchen
Feet in the dog’s biscuits
Confronting the fridge freezer

Surveyed for ten seconds
(actually 9.7)
Stuck forward my hand
Then plop

Placed red in the middle
Under the Streets of Baltimore
In sight of a Poppy from Flanders
A watchful Evil Eye Talisman
Above Istanbul and Prague
Close by CI Sark
To the left Florence
On the right Nigel, long gone

Behind it the ice box
Whirring like the stream engine
En route to Noyelles-sur-Mer
About to drop off, again

Wondering whether the red
Is derived cochineal
Or blood from the mail man
Bitten by a hound - not mine
But as I am observing
Should it be “read” not “red”
Cannot stand conundrums if
I could work out what they are.

Alun Robert

Born in Scotland of Irish lineage, Alun Robert is a prolific creator of lyrical verse achieving success in poetry competitions in Europe and North America. His poems have featured in international literary magazines, anthologies and on the web. He is particularly inspired by ekphrastic challenges.