Ekphrastic Poetry: 'De Koning van Thule'

by Honor Davis


De Koning van Thule, 1896 by Pierre Jean Van der Ouderaa

My eyes have aged.
They’re heavy,
and guilty
- and whilst they lift with little ease
my drink rises with a soothing abundance.

My feet are still and bare.
When they once paced
they now lie
When they once ran
they now rest
- cradled by a high stool.

The sun’s unwelcome glow burns against my lids
I squirm at its intensity
and hide behind my wine’s sweet scent.


At last the day’s glow lifts me
- as gravity had drowned me
And light bounds through me
- as drink had turned to numb me.

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