Painting Without Sound



Trying to be…..

Paint yourself into
someone else.

Apply plenty of lie
to your smile to keep
clueless content.

Truth doesn’t sell
when the market
is flooded with
cleavage and curves.


Revelation….

Pain bleeds through
the grainy silence.

Hope unhinged
doesn’t need sound
to speak agony.

Heartbreak is
a universal language
too often spoken
from the dejection
written upon a face.


©Susie Clevenger 2014



          "True Heart Susie" (1919)


At Real Toads Kerry used silent movies as inspiration for our writing. In doing some research I came across the movie, "True Heart Susie" starring Lillian Gish. Of course it caught my attention since I share the name Susie, but I also felt the connection because it was released in the same year my father was born. 


Comments

Kerry O'Connor said…
Each stanza of this poem could stand alone with all the weight of epigram. Excellent observations, Susie.
Susan said…
And the dejection comes through the paint as well. it is hard to cover up the lie ...
Sumana Roy said…
silence has a language of its own
...and it's universal..beautifully
expressed...
Hannah said…
I agree with Kerry totally and your closing stanza feels particularly potent with truth to me.

Excellent response, Susie!
Margaret said…
I adore everything about this poem - the deeper insight and the beauty of how you wrote it AND the movie… I am coming back to watch this hopefully this weekend. THANKS!
Anonymous said…
I am, once again, struck by how much those old-time movies can actually say, even without words. Wonderful!
hedgewitch said…
'..Pain bleeds through
the grainy silence...'

That's exactly what i caught writing about one of these women--to the audience, pure magic--yet everyone is only human after all, not immaculate, painted perfection, and the contrast seems somehow devestating. This one really resonates with me, Susie.
Maude Lynn said…
That truth doesn't sell stanza is really outstanding. Excellent work, Susie.