Defining Features

Photo from and poem for Sunday Muse #99.

Who says that black and white are flat without

defining features? They are velvet and 

satin, knife-edged and stark, mysterious

and transparent. They mirror each other

completely in tales of sorrow and love.

Black and white film reveals complex shades in

An Imitation of Life.* No one is 

satisfied. Mothers let down daughters and

daughters abandon mothers in tirades

of inside-out words, unforgettable.

But let's leave 19-30s and 19-

50s images behind in the 20-

20s.  Even now, an apple with one 

slice removed sits innocently as if 

quiet, but today we know it's screaming.

We also know that it is not alone,

that its friends and allies are genuine

and not imitations. They are velvet 

and satin, knife-edged and stark–and they are 

not silent, but expressive in power.

My blog poems are rough drafts.

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   © 2020 Susan L. Chast