Rising Incense
Full sunlight can blind.
I prefer the subdued
brightness of Diebenkorn’s
Ocean Park 117.
The yellow on the bottom
is a ground and a base.
It works: black and gray
float on top, oil and smoke
broken up by the frames
of a skylight. Ochre
and lavender are equal
in sweetness. The light
in my bedroom speckles
and dazzles as the wind
moves the leaves
with a shimmering sound.
Ceiling fan is a Buddhist
prayer wheel, as it drones
its mantra to the heavens,
rhythmically, anapests—
ah ah unh, ah ah unh
About This Poem:
- This poem was written in Cindy King’s class at Stockton (Fall 2012), possibly my first attempt at an ekphrastic poem. “I Have Many Sisters” was written in that class, too. It’s an early appearance of the theme of spirituality which returns several times in my chapbook poems.
- I was sitting in my bedroom on a sparkling day with the ceiling fan on when I wrote this. One of my husband’s beautiful paintings hangs over the bed, not a Diebenkorn. Still, the setting all came together for this poem.
- This poem first appeared in Serving House Journal-13 in Fall 2015.
I love it, Deborah. Not only did you make a wonderful choice of subject, but you see things that otherwise would be imperceptible. Spiritual, for sure–and beautifully written.