The Girl At The Fair (poem)

Melissa prompted us this week with some Marc Chagall paintings at dVerse Poets, offering that we write a poem for one of the four choices she included.

I went with La promenade (The Promenade) – 1918.

The Girl At The Fair

She arrived in a whirl and twirl of her own breeze

made of silken whimsy

children’s smiles

and the weight of the world reversed

when she took his hand

and ran away with his fingers

so

he would ask them back

and they danced and swam

in her air

ancient fish looking for land

where

he held her like a balloon on the midway

at the fair

never to dare

let her

away

lest she float and float to a vanishing point

through her twirl and whirl

of wind parted clouds

back to the heavens

surely

from whence she came

and he would be left with

only

unreliable words to explain

his tale and his heartbreak



9 responses to “The Girl At The Fair (poem)”

  1. “made of silken whimsy
    children’s smiles
    and the weight of the world reversed”
    ❤️❤️

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  2. I love al the movement in your poem, the internal rhyme of ‘whirl and twirl’, the running away with his fingers, the dancing and swimming, and the contrast of that with holding her like a balloon ‘lest she float and float and float’.

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      1. You’re welcome, Stephen!

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  3. I love how you captured this promenade as a dance.

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  4. “Her held like a balloon on the midway” is such a perfect image for that Chagall feeling—buoyant but fragile. It reminds me of how my kid sister used to grab my hand at the fair, half afraid she’d lift off into the night sky.

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    1. Sorry late back David, just noticed now, your comment waiting to mark and approve. Thanks so much and yes indeed, how you tried hard to make sure not to let go. 🙂

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