While Exploring Le Musée des Arcanes
His eyes follow me around the cluttered room,
this portrait of a man from another century—
painted by a skilled hand, fine brushstrokes
though the artist neither signed the work
nor identified their subject.
I gaze into his eyes, this man in a stiff collar
who posed by gaslight before my grandfather
was born, and can almost feel his boredom
and ego, wondering how he ended up in a gallery
in a narrow museum amongst curios and taxidermy.
Isn’t it strange how portraits feel like mirrors
if you stare at them long enough? The background
spins and the light dims and I can almost feel
that starched white collar clutching my neck
and though I wasn’t walking, I trip into the frame.
And now my spirit, never stirring, never sleeping,
never blinking, still is waiting, still is waiting
for some other fool to stare into my eyes once more.
Bartholomew Barker, Poet 
A great poem! Love those mesmerizing eyes!
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Thank you, Dwight!
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You are welcome!
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That made me laugh really hard at the end! A very nice surprise there. Thanks for that.
It also has some nice O’Henry type Halloween Spook! It wasn’t Dorian Gray’s Portrait by any chance?
Nicely crafted
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Thanks, Mary! Always want to end with a pop.
I wouldn’t call it a Dorian Gray kind of portrait. More like a pitcher plant.
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Okay, I can see that I think. Not sure what a pitcher plant is but I’m getting an idea. I’m just crazy about Oscar Wilde. I love everything he wrote and just his whole vibe.
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Yeah, Oscar Wilde was a genius.
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You like to end with a pop? Here’s something about the Orkney Halloween ‘pop’….
http://www.orkneyjar.com/tradition/calendar/october.htm
Isn’t playing with words just THE BUSINESS!
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Ha! Penny for me Pop.
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thanks for the Orkney tradition. Loved that!!
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It is difficult for the common man to morph into the frame… for he walks by the building daily in his need for bread… thinking to himself, only the rich, the idle, and fools enter such a building…!
🇯🇲🏖️
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Indeed. The common man is safe from this trap.
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Nice spooky ending. Perfect for Halloween night
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Thanks! I’ve been working on this one for most of the month.
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This would make a good story – it IS a good story – and at the end – trapped, waiting for the next victim. Imagine it…true horror.
Strangely enough – yesterday evening I watched an episode of Star Trek where some aliens ( as usual very pretty aliens in skimpy clothing) had stolen Spock’s brain intending to keep him to supply mind power for their planet to function – until the next suitable mind came along. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708449/
I’m not sure that Spock would mind that too much, but for us humans – the worst kind of incarceration.
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I know that episode well, Spock’s Brain.
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The magic of art!
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Indeed!
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And you’re in m’blog…with a seasonal soup!
http://www.spanglefish.com/berniesblog/blog.asp?blogid=15988
A poet’s gotta eat…
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That soup recipe woke up my salivary glands.
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There are two more recipes in the ‘comments’ to my recipe for home-made stock – maybe going off-topic a bit – but – well – I likes my grub!
One of the many good things about having a body to feel with.
Stuck in a painting, watching folk living – no thanks.
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A fabulous poem with great descriptions!
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Thanks. Hope it still had an effect even a week after Halloween.
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