Shadow at the Window

This is an entry in "The Writer's Cramp - Poetry Week!" .

This is the prompt: Write about an artist (of any kind!) whose latest work is a big change from their usual output. What's different now and how does their audience react?

18 Lines


Shadow at the Window

No Van Gogh lurking
anywhere close to here
merely a writer of jumbled words
that forgot to rhyme that day

It's the fault of the language
rather than the painter,
the detached, removed audience applauding
a shadow at the window painting portraits of time

Denying anything remotely close to reality,
cheers seem so inappropriate
excuses at the ready
for something so transient and fleeting

Framed by all the smiles and hopes in the world
reluctant to acknowledge where the dreams really lie
Dismissed with a brokenhearted, discouraged wave
Never perceived as more than fun for the moment

They got their money's worth at the exhibition
as the curtain closes on everything that mattered as time marches on