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| James Ensor, The Intrigue, 1890 |
THE
ONLOOKER
after James Ensor’s The Intrigue, 1890
is
it sin to look so strangely?
to
take it at face value
that
I meant the painted figures
and
not us?
our
eyes would rather ask
than
look away, entranced
by
the meat hooks of fashion
on
display for the occasion.
a
masquerade is waiting.
and
the harlequin faces passing
distracted
through the frame
do
not exchange our glance—
save
for one. his eyes
are
like our eyes subtracted;
his
mask done up to mime affront,
contorted
by what he sees
(or
views as slight) so much so
that
we see ourselves anew—
the
mask that held us up
now
slipping, revealing
vacant
eyes we can’t unpaint,
nor
erase the thought
he’s
not quite asking—
what other
madness
did you hope to
find?
Daniel
Carrington, Honorable Mention, Friendswood Library Ekphrastic Poetry Contest
& Reading
Daniel
Carrington
is an architectural intern and poet. He’s a four-time Juried Poet for the
Houston Poetry Fest, his work having been anthologized on each occasion, and he
now serves on the festival’s Steering Committee. His poems have also
appeared in Sol Magazine
Project's anthology Thirteen Poets (2015). He’s been
a featured reader around the greater Houston area, notably for Public Poetry
and Friendswood Public Library’s Off the Page
Poetry series. He’s a lifetime member of and Corresponding
Secretary for the Gulf Coast Poets chapter of the Poetry Society of Texas.
He lives in Cypress, Texas.
