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
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
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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