Revival

Sylvia Plath (October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963). Photographer Unknown

 

Revival
Death of a Messenger

A never-ending performance
Of the darkest night
Has its swan song
With vapid glee
The black curtain’s enormity
Comes down
To an ovation, withstanding
The joys of life
Culminating in pulpit suits
Hats and bourbon
Decent and indecent
Upright and lipstick
Face down and flat out
Clouds of camphor and hypocrisy
Waft through stale air
As ghosts in need
Slip through cracks
Empty-handed, giftless
Greeting Gods
On the other side of tomorrow

 

“I am terrified by this dark thing that sleeps in me.”
― Sylvia Plath, The Collected Poems

Sylvia Plath reading ‘A Birthday Present’ * *

 

Copyright © 2018 Mia Pharaoh. All rights reserved.

 

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The Understudy

Ellen Rogers Photography

 

Waiting for sleep to take hold
My mind circles like vultures
Canvassing for a carcass
I scribe myself in line and lifelines
Glossy black and blue
Over flat white: hesitant and anemic
I swing like a bladed pendulum
Between false certainty
And self-doubt while wondering
If I’m my own greatest creation
My own worst critic
Or my own careless curator
Stumbling in awkward curtsy
Trading secrets for currency

 

“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”
― Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath *

 

For more about photographer Ellen Rogers please click on the link to visit the wonderfully surreal world of Mr. Cake to see his post, “Bewitched”.

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Copyright © 2018 Mia Pharaoh. All rights reserved.

 

Venus de Milo

Photographer Sally Mann

 

Front and forward
In vintage light
Her alabaster skin
And sun-kissed hair
Glowed brighter than the rest
There’s no denying
Among the crowd
Of same-old, same-old
She stood out
At five, late afternoon
Poised with confidence
Obvious swag and personality
Born with provocative gesture
Shoulder thrown back with la-di-da motion
Hip turned out in told-you-so pivot
Brows tipped down
In thoughtful calculation
She was and always would be
The cat that swallowed the canary

 

“I like to make people a little uncomfortable. It encourages them to examine who they are and why they think the way they do.”
― Sally Mann

Video — “Sally Mann” *

 

Copyright © 2018 Mia Pharaoh. All rights reserved.

 

Dove

Photographer Sarah Moon

 

 

With fragile ankles
We turn on pointed toe
Extricating ourselves
From the lukewarm rubble

 

“I can bear any pain as long as it has meaning.”
― Haruki Murakami, 1Q84

 

Sarah Blasko – “Bird On A Wire”                         *      

 

Copyright © 2018 Mia Pharaoh. All rights reserved.

 

East

Photographer Erich Hartmann

 

 

Reduction, a man-made affliction: the queue that holds abundant room for cruel intentions and harsh realities. Snapshots of the transparent and apparent blanket everything with a blasé gesso malaise when properly prepared hushes questions of right, leaving blank stares as empty armless hugs, known as the huddle: an odd semblance of warmth. The Deplorables distinguished as righteous, the righteous disguised as deplorable share in the madness and madness: a never-ending role of one in the sameness.

 

“It’s sickening how The Machine treats the individual parts.”
— June Gloom, The Gray Zone

 

Balthazar – “The Man Who Owns The Place”                         *      

 

Copyright © 2018 Mia Pharaoh. All rights reserved.

 

Deep Water

 

Crapshoot

Man Ray Self-portrait

 

Crapshoot
100 Words

Ooh la la, this photo is to die for, even if I do say so myself. It’s all about you, you, you. What about me? You’re brilliant, a diamond in the rough running circles around me while I clean a loaded gun with my right hand, count barbiturates with my left, wondering if I have time to swallow them all before the hammer hits the firing pin. Choking down dry pills, no water, coughing furiously I hit my forehead on the table, accidentally pulling the trigger, missed by the bullet, clarity arrives. Not to worry, I’m every shade of okay.

 

“I have been accused of being a joker. But the most successful art to me involves humor.”
― Man Ray

A Short film by Man Ray — “Poison”                                                               *

 

Copyright © 2018 Mia Pharaoh. All rights reserved.