Juliet Pantoulis
Loves Ghost
Despite his absence, he still remains.
The remnants of his cologne stay on her clothes,
And his touch lingers on her skin.
His words can be heard within the speech of another.
His voice echoes in the passing breeze.
Her soul is forever tainted with his memory.
Her heart was painted with his love.
So despite their distance, he waltzes on her mind,
Pulling her into their infinite dance.
When he will return is unknown
So she clings to the ghost of him.
She allows her thoughts to carry him to her
So they can be together for a moment
When the world is quiet, and the chaos calms,
when her mind is allowed to wander.
“Stay” by Reynier Llanes
For my poem, I emulated the writing style of The Man With The Hoe where he writes in the third person while explaining the feelings of the man in the painting. I wanted to create a story surrounding the girl to explain what is happening, who she is speaking to, and why she is speaking to them. The aesthetic of the painting did not feel dark or sad to me so instead I wanted to keep the poem romantic and almost dreamy. I used words like “ghost” and “memory” to emulate the depiction of the figure in the painting. I chose to break into places in which it would lead the story. The first stanza speaks about his memory the second stanza goes into what his memory does to her, and the third and final stanza tells a bit more about where he may have gone and her longing to have him back.