Today is a wish,
or a halfhearted promise of escape
from the contrived hopes that scaffold my vision.
In the cell of my heart,
the hot tight center of my body,
there is neither youth nor future.
None of the contrivances of a public life,
only the strong sweet warmth
of the private life –
the solitude of a landscape painting
and a single detached patron
at closing time.
dVerse open link night
Poetry on the run 
Oh this is intriguing.. the imagery of a lonely painting.. really intriguing and what a metaphor… still bouncing around in my head.
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nice…you know solitude is important…and we dont need the glitz and glam to find that kind of contentment…i like this much…
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Oh, I feel the ‘private life’ in this poem very deeply….and its loneliness.
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Intriguing title which makes me wonder whether you were inspired by a specific painting! Solitude is fine, if it is a chosen state.
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Thanks Gabriella. The inspiration is a line from a poem, I believe by Louise Bogan but I cannot remember the name of the poem. The line is “I feel like a landscape”.
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That’s quite the metaphor. I’m very much an introvert & need time & space to myself, so I could connect to this. I enjoyed this.
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Sweet. The metaphors carry it and the private life is a sweet place to end.
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effective use of images and metaphors… i esp. loved the single detached patron at closing time..
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Short, sharp, makes me think and think and feel and feel. The private life of paintings, the loneliness of the straggling patron at closing time… each line is a triumph, I think!
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The solitude brings the quiet to think and I almost feel that it’s a statement that being alone is enough . Lovely poem.
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Intriguing, the solitude of the painting, & the detached patron – alone, together. Lovely. We are all alone, together, in our solitude. I really liked this.
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