Two After Jeanie Tomanek, by Debora Tremont

White Birds in Another Life, by Jeanie Tomanek (USA) 2023. Click on image to visit artist site.

White Birds in Another Life
 
She stands, arms at her sides,
red hair brushed back, head turned
to gaze across a spindly picket fence,
horizon reddened by the sinking sun.
Or is it the pink of dawn that draws 
her patient stare? Is she waiting for 
someone to return, or is she wondering 
how she landed here, white apron crisp
and circled with moons? The dark sky 
pulses with the green of life, verdant 
but half-seen, her dreams in the distance, 
white birds winging in formation 
toward an unknown destination. 
Her heart lifts, then falls, she hears 
the birds call out her name. She keeps 
her outer calm, but deep inside 
her heart responds. In another life 
she knows she wouldn’t stay. 
A wind would rise to give her wings, 
carry her away.

Field of Embers, by Jeanie Tomanek (USA) 2024

Field of Embers
 
She stands in a field of embers,
orange flames leaping up around her
red-hot cinders sizzling in the sky
like malevolent stars. 
 
She is resigned, calm amid devastation,
her sad eyes closed and shyly downcast, 
awaiting the outcome. She makes 
no effort to flee. 
 
Did she set this fire or did it erupt 
spontaneously, inevitably, despite
her efforts to create a happy life?
She clutches a tiny house in her arms.
 
Tall boots protect her feet, 
but her hair is wrapped neatly 
with a bow, and her dress is demure, 
fashioned of blue sky 
 
and fluffy clouds, flowers dotting 
a border of green. How can she remain 
coolly steadfast as her dreams
burn to ashes around her? 
 
She stands there, as if condemned,
consigned to immolation by her choices
holding her dreams in her hands
trying to protect her vision of home.

​Debora Tremont