"Nostalgia"

 

The Crimson Rambler
Philip Leslie Hale, 1908   

masterpieces   

moments of custom   

memories of etiquette   

polite smiles  

curtsies and bows

the good ol’ days in softness 

a vivid palette of bold sunlight   

fields of flowers and fanciful fantasies   

gentleness, hope, grace   

perfection within illusion   

masterpieces   

Copyright 2012 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman



"The Censor"

stifle my feelings   

tell me what I can think    

amend my beliefs to fit your own    

control my words with your raised fists    

remove my logic    

suppress my truth with  your denial    

protect your illusions by overpowering reality    

create your stories that rewrite history    

pout and threaten and yell the loudest   

edit and cut until I don’t exist   

Copyright 2011 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman

 

“The Tip of an Iceberg”

with a few words  I conceal   

under an ocean’s depth of denial   

flaws and faults   

I minimize old pain   

with bland responses that reveal nothing   

of my hurt   

You see only what I show   

a crystal castle floating on blue seas   

translucent   

sparkling pinnacles of light   

white perfection—an undefiled mirage   

jeweled spires   

cutting against cobalt sky   

graceful illusions I used to disguise   

their untruths   

below the surface lurks lies—   

love frozen into grotesque mutations   

sea monsters   

horrors and deceits they hide   

underneath where unexpected currents   

buffet me   

until I writhe free and climb   

back into the sunlight of brilliant diamonds—   

my iceberg   

Copyright 2012 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman