Jewels

[Hawkman]

I once tried to capture,
in a photograph,
the brilliance of raindrops
gravid with refracted light.

Hanging from a five bar gate,
each was a gem
in its own right.

Although my retina
was scorched by blinding colour
from each bead,
the mystery was lost;

a photo of a row of dots
blurred, dull and lifeless—
all fire quenched.

[paradoxical]

I once tried to capture,
in a photograph,
the brilliance of raindrops
gravid with refracted light.

Hanging from a five bar gate,
each was a gem
in its own right.

Although my retina
was scorched by blinding colour
from each bead,
the mystery was lost;

a photo of a row of dots
blurred, dull and lifeless—
all fire quenched.

I like this poem. The only problem I had was with the last line. I'm usually not picky about images, but could a raindrop hold fire? Perhaps you meant fire as in refracted sunlight.

Also, the word gravid. Perhaps "full of" or even "pregnant with refracted light" would work better. Anyway, I still like this piece.

[Silas Thorne]

Yes. I like this, Hawkman. :) I have the same feeling about photography. I just don't see the point of it actually. You can never really trap the soul or essence of things. Which is probably just as well, and forces people to use paint, to use charcoal, or to use words.
For 'fire' I imagined the fire of rainbow light trapped in the raindrops, or the Promethean fires of life.

I didn't really have a problem with 'gravid'. Even though I don't know what it means, I think I can guess it from the context.

[paradoxical]

I didn't really have a problem with 'gravid'. Even though I don't know what it means, I think I can guess it from the context.

I had to look it up as well. :)

[Jack of Hearts]

It's a subtle thing to notice, that. When this reader read this poem earlier this morning he didn't know what 'gravid' meant, but took it in context. And now, of course, reading the replies...

Really love the imagery in this one Hawk, or whatever you call it. The raindrops/intense color thing. Quite nice.






J

[dyne7]

retina and gravid are amazing words to use in the poem. very nice pace, as well as theme. i suppose photos really are ineffective at some level, huh?


dyne

[Hawkman]

Paradoxical: Hi, and thanks for reading. Can a jewel hold fire? Not literally, but it is a description often attributed to a gem. Given the analogy and the poem's title I think it works ok. Gravid is derrived from the Latin, gravis meaing heavy, the same route as gravity. Given the shape of the drops and the meaning of pregnant, I feel it is definitely the right word. ;)

Silas: Photography can do a lot of things and sometiimes, is the best medium for capturing an image. Sometimes though, it is not, and this was one of those occasions. I was very young, I must have been 11 or less, because this was in the garden of a house I moved from in 1972. The camera was an old instamatic. I wonder if, with my current level of skill and the equipment now at my disposal, I could capture the image the way it impinges on my memory. Probably not. Scale and contrast ratios would be against me. Perhaps it could be compiled in photoshop, but then - it would not be real...

Jack: Thanks to you too. It was very noticeable, the brilliance of those flashes of colour really cought my eye. So long ago though. Can't think why the memory popped up now.

dyne: Yes, sometimes the mind makes things far more vivid. Most gratified that you liked this one. Thanks for reading.

Live long and prosper - H