Above
the Fireplace
The
picture above the mantle
In
my uncle and aunt’s house
Has
been professionally cleaned.
No
longer has it the patina of dark,
Brooding
mystery that I recall.
The
sea is now green and white,
No
longer fathomless, eerie gray.
The
ship is now under full sail, with
Billowing
canvas and polished brass.
I
miss the pirate corsair of my youth;
Cannon-ripped,
blotched sails and an
Aura
of danger and menace as it
Flees
from the darkening storm on
The
horizon which has now become
A
placid, distant shoreline of hills.
I
far prefer my boyhood impression
Than
the renovated present, as some
Memories
should not be sanitized.
Rick Hartwell
Rick Hartwell
is a retired middle school teacher (remember the hormonally-challenged?) living
in Southern California with his wife of forty-seven years, Sally (upon whom he
is emotionally, physically, and spiritually dependent), two grown children, two
granddaughters, and fifteen cats! Don’t ask. Like the Transcendentalists and
William Blake, he believes that the instant contains eternity.
He has been published in: Active Muse, Ariel Chart
International Literary Journal, Birmingham Arts Journal, Phenomenal
Literature, The Cortland Review, Dual Coast Magazine, The Clayjar Review,
Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Every Day Fiction, Foreshadow Magazine, Our Day’s
Encounter, Agape Review, Blue Lake Review, EgoPHobia, The Galway Review, Fine
Lines, Compass Rose Literary Journal, Scarlet Leaf Review (nominated Best
of the Net, 2016), Poppy Road Review (selected as Best of the Net,
2011), Torrid Literature Journal (inducted into the Hall of Fame,
2013), Synchronized Chaos (nominated as Best of the Net, 2013), The
Stray Branch, Steam Ticket, Leaves of Ink, Poetry Magazine (Editor’s
Circle choices 2011), One Title Magazine (received The Jeffster Award
from Deconstructing Myths, 2015).and others, both print and online,
as well as several anthologies, including: Universal Oneness:An
Anthology of Magnum Opus Poems from Around the World; Lowestoft Chronicle
Anthology; Bindweed Magazine Anthology; Kind of a Hurricane Press:
Poised In Flight, Something’s Brewing, Storm Cycle, Best of 2013, Elementary My
Dear, Life is a Roller Coaster, and In Gilded Frame
Anthologies; Flash Fiction World Anthology, Torrid Literature
Journal: Enter the Gateway, XII, XIII, The Effects of Grace Anthologies;
Synchronized Chaos Anthology; Neos Alexandria Anthology; Midwest’s
Literary Magazine: Winter Canons Anthology, The Shangra-La Shack Literary Arts
Journal Anthology (nominated for Best of the Net, 2013); Whisperings
Magazine Anthology (nominated for Best of the Net, 2013);
and, Thunderune Publishing: Stormcloud Poets Anthology #2.