Whistler's Nocturne in Black and Gold

                               ~

 

Whistler’s Nocturne in Black and Gold    

 

                           i.

 

All proceeds from some abstract abyss

doused in darkness, where mists,

profuse and fathomless,

serve as backdrop to the easeful drift

of stars lifting from a forsaken earth

or falling, purged of sound, like a weighted breath.

 

                           ii.

 

Closer in, the shattered spray

of faint, ornamental light;

the darker design and intricate way

drizzle dissipates in a night

sky like airborne particles of frost

or ash that’s smoldering and wind-tossed.

 

                          iii.

 

Day distant, this world will soon sleep

beneath a lightless sky of pewter

gray and lake-bed blue, while the slow sweep

of waveless waters,

shunting moonlight, push past

leaving but a faint, elegiac gleam of gold dust.

   

John Muro

 

A resident of Connecticut and a lover of all things chocolate, John Muro has authored two volumes of poems – In the Lilac Hour and Pastoral Suite– in 2020 and 2022, respectively. Both volumes were published by Antrim House. Since his first book’s publication, John has received multiple nominations for the Pushcart Prize, the Best of the Net Award and, in 2023, he was a Grantchester Award recipient. John’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous literary journals, including Acumen, Ariel Chart, Barnstorm, Delmarva, New Square, Sky Island and the Valparaiso Review.