Portrait of Melancholy

The poem below is one that I wrote sometime ago but have resurrected for a writing assignment in revision. It was interesting to pick it up and feel that I was at the same emotional place once again. The difference this time is that I have taken action to move my life forward. I have joined classes, groups, and started this blog. The sadness that one feels when a relationship ends or changes is still there but the excitement of knowing that I have grown and the future is bright and hopeful make the melancholy more a sense of reflection, and emotional work than a sense of despair. I feel that the revisions to this poem have made it stronger and more touching, just as the revisions in my life over the past year have made me stronger and more in touch with the world around me. I hope the poem touches you in your moments of melancholy, but know that the rain always stops, the sun always shines again.


A Portrait of My Melancholy

Sky
leaden and gray, melds with my heart,
leafs reflecting the sultry green of rain
and the mists clinging to dusk,
speak of a time and place removed from here.

Air
alive with the texture of colors
caresses my skin, enfolding my senses
in the desolate beauty of the moment,
and I am lulled by the song of the rain.

Trees
mysterious in costumes of haze
call to my spirit with tales
of clandestine encounters,
wisps of flowing silk glimpsed among the shadows
as she steals through this sensuous landscape,
ever searching, seeking,
held captive by the night.

Moonlight
suddenly bathes her, a silhouette in pearl
standing solo on the breast of the knoll,
painting in the midst of the rainy night
A portrait of my melancholy.


Conni Struss Johnson ©