Wax Mother, by Melinda Dewsbury

Menneskenes Sønn, by Christian Skredsvig (Norway). 1891.

Wax Mother
​
Another wax mother passes by
Grey ashen wax
Warmth and flame
Extinguished.
When will it be mine?
When will those hands reach
My arm to hold me back?
Tears weigh me down
Cumulonimbus of grief build
Where once radiance reigned
And childhood held promise
Where this village held me
Playful and innocent
I suffocate in its clasp.

Melinda Dewsbury

This poem was written for the surprise ekphrastic I See a Darkness challenge.

Melinda has been in love with beauty and the beauty of words since she can remember.  She grew up in rural Ontario among the rhythms of the agricultural cycle and now lives in Langley, BC, where she teaches writing, literature, and linguistics at Trinity Western University. Although she has written poetry for decades, she has not yet taken the great leap into sharing it publicly. These poems, written as part of the surprise ekphrastic I See a Darkness challenge, mark the first time.