I open the letter, read the words again and again. But they don’t change. They recount the battle and your acts of bravery. They describe the sudden storm, a tempest that battered your ship against the rocks, as you were journeying home to me. I had warned you not to go. I told you of my dream, where the storm clouds gathered and flew like demons, covering the moon, and you appeared beside me, cold and still, dripping, smelling of the sea, smelling of decay. I felt the pain then, clean and sharp in my breast. You laughed at my fears, called me Cassandra. Perhaps I am, for you did not believe me. I look at the ring on my finger and think of this other love-pledge you have given me, feel him flutter-kick in my womb. A son. He’ll be born in the spring. I will tell him about you.
ghosts drift in moonlight
clouds obscure the pale glowing
drops like silver tears
Johannes Vermeer, “Woman in Blue Reading a Letter,” [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
This haibun is for Colleen Chesebro’s Weekly poetry challenge. The prompt words were clean and sharp. I’ve also used this week’s Secret Keeper’s prompt. The words: | OPEN| ROCK| RING | ACT | LETTER |
Jane Dougherty used the Vermeer image above for a post this week, also using Secret Keeper’s Words. I like it so much, that I decided to steal use it, too. The painting is carefully constructed and illuminated, of course, but I also like the literacy of the woman that is portrayed as unexceptional. Also, though it is most likely the fashion, the woman in the painting does look pregnant.
Yesterday and today: Merril's historical musings 