Keep Me Whole

Why paint me so another ages
Cloned in indigo and muted gray
No one knows me like the artist
Oscar proved it, did he not?

While I emote in garish overtones
Voracious, relentless, flaunting passion
Rampant romanticism
While etched in canvas a soul trembles
Paying consequence to denial

dversepoets.comTuesday we are exploring Gothic poetry.

“The emotions particularly invoked were that of awe, fear, wariness and terror, which contrasted sharply with the uplifting ones invoked by Neoclassical themes of art and emotions of happiness, longing, nostalgia, love and sorrow which were often found in mainstream Romanticism. The happier emotions in Gothic Literature are extreme such as elation and frenzied joy.

It is a genre which, through the supernatural, the fantastic and the remote, allows a discussion on everything that has been repressed. The challenge is to write a gothic poem exploring the question,

Which according to you are the deepest, darkest and most concealed of human emotions?”

I don’t think I followed the rules, but all I could think was “The Portrait of Dorian Gray.” It is all I ever read of him many years ago, and sticks with me still today.

I think Ocar Wilde described it best and maybe even lived in the wish of his only novel.

Perhaps the greatest thing we conceal is vulnerability which is maybe the darkest side of all emotions.