Poetry inspired by Darlene’s Peruvian images

I have collaborated with writers in the past, and recently two poets that I know were inspired to write about some of my images captured in Peru. So without any extra fanfare, here are the first two.

Hands of Time

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The toil of your life
is carried in your hands in
the earth stains upon and
under your fingernails
as much as in the thinning
gold wedding ring around your
wrinkled finger.

Your hands in their tired
silence upon your lap
go beyond language barriers;

and words are not needed
to tell your story.

– Sandra Mooney-Ellerbeck


Layers

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Your image overlays an image
of my daughter, your age,
posing like you on a sun-heated rock;

her youthful beauty glistens
in the riverside spray, dancing
in the sunlight, the look
of affluence on her skin, while
the dust of your surroundings
is worn with poverty
on your skin.

She is looking outward, like you, but
your eyes draw in sand stone scarcity,
while her eyes draw in abundance;

she is wearing a blue hat, the blue
of a cloudless sky, a crisp Canadian
mountain morning, blue
with endless expedition;

even the layered stones
behind you seem empty
in the uneven cracks, where
no moss, or vine can emerge
with flowering life, yet
life is in the clothes you wear,
ancient with story and survival;
and you in your orange hat
are cheered color: a bloom
of hope in the parched
Peruvian backdrop.

– Sandra Mooney-Ellerbeck

For Part Two – More Poetry and Peruvian Images go here

For Part Three of Poems and Peruvian images go here
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About Your Tutor

photography tutor in Edmonton

Born and raised in Edmonton, Darlene has had formal training in photography at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. She enjoys portraits, fine art, and travel photography. She is a seasoned traveler having spent time in Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, Peru, Thailand, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Cuba and Australia. Darlene loves exotic locales, exotic food and experiencing different countries directly through the local people and the cultural arts. Her vision is to share her artistic talents through teaching “the art of seeing”, and to spread love and tolerance through the experience of truly connecting with and understanding people of different cultures.