The Distance Within #poetry #dVerse

The distance within is greater than the distance without
no doubt and no surprise
I feel a vastness

like distances travelled on lazy Sunday afternoons
the way the light played on the pool
a foundness and a lostness

you’re gone now I know that I am mortal
the clock-tower tolls the hour
lulls me towards my fenced-in end

still no more I feel a sadness
knowing I’ll live on
in that measureless space 
in which you loved me.

© Experimentsinfiction 2021, All Rights Reserved

Written for dVerse

Tonight, Sanaa is hosting Poetics, and she has provided us with 12 minimalist photos courtesy of South Sound Minimalist Photos, founded by Glenn A. Buttkus. She challenges us to do the following:

…select one out of the twelve photographs shared above and write a poem. It can be an Ekphrastic poem, if you like. Go philosophical. Go dark or romantic or solemn. Share what you feel about Minimalist photography when you see it. The idea here is to provoke an emotion, and what better way to pour them out rather than poetry?

In addition to this, Glenn has provided some poetic prose to get us started. I chose the following:

  • 12.  Clock Tower:
    “From my cage, I could clearly see the clock tower, and at times it made me weep.”

Quote and featured image courtesy of Glenn A. Buttkus.

55 thoughts on “The Distance Within #poetry #dVerse

Add yours

  1. Oh this is incredibly evocative, Ingrid! I can visualize the scene which you have painted here, especially love; “the clock-tower tolls the hour lulls me towards my fenced-in end, still no more I feel a sadness knowing I’ll live on,”… such emotion in these lines. We will always have memories. Thank you so much for writing to the prompt 💝💝

  2. I am reminded of nostalgic Italy in this poem for no other reason other than the pictures the lazy Sunday afternoons and clock tower brought to mind. A lovely piece, Ingrid!

  3. This is absolutely beautiful….the clock tower reference strikes at the heart of the loss as it strikes the hour. Beautiful poem inspired by Glenn’s photo.

  4. This is the old clock tower in Tacoma, WA. I really like how this inspired you. Very Zen, that the solution to most problems is an inside job, inner space, introspection. I liked “the way the light played on the pool, aa foundness and a lostness.” Melancholy trumped by spirituality; loved it–thank you.

    1. Thank you Glenn! It looked like Italy to me, which I think is what inspired me to write something romantic. It’s a great picture.

  5. I love the feeling of transcending space that comes through even though there is the fenced-in-ness. This line, though – I feel a vastness / like distances travelled on lazy Sunday afternoons. Beautiful <3

  6. This is a wonderful poem Ingrid! Your contrasts are great. The distance within is greater than the distance without … what a great observation and opening line.

  7. in that measureless space
    in which you loved me.

    Love the way you relate the imprisonment of love with hourly reminder of the clock-tower in the background. Perfectly made for the prompt, Ingrid!

    Hank

  8. great creativity, you wrote to that pic awesomely … from internal vastness to love’s measureless space. Inner space is incredibly vast and we can choose to fill it with positive memories of love or more harmful ones

    the range of responses here clearly indicate how we each interpret your poem and Glenn’s photo …

  9. Such a lovely, moving response Ingrid. I don’t know if you were thinking of your own lost loved ones, but that’s what I got from it. I considered responding to this one, too. Time, as measured in hours, days, and years is sort of an artificial concept that we’ve constructed. Memories are timeless.

    “in that measureless space
    in which you loved me.”

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