Debbie Walker-Lass, (she/her) is a poet, collage artist, and writer living in Decatur, Georgia. Her work has appeared in The Ekphrastic Journal, Poetry Quarterly, Haikuniverse, The Light Ekphrastic and Natural Awakenings, Atlanta, among others. She has recently read live for The Poet’s Corner. Debbie loves beachcombing on Tybee Island and hanging out with her husband, Burt, and dog, Maddie.
Away In Dreams
Caterpillar on windowpane
Caterpillar crawls away
Away from fou roux
Away red headed madman
Madman of Saint Remy
Madman with Irises
Irises wheat fields isolation
Irises in thick streams
Streams of undulating Cobalt
Streams of the Rhine
Rhine river take me
Rhine put me under
Under your blanket
Under your depths
Depths of Indigo mind
Depths of illuminated sorrow
Sorrow and thin confinement
Sorrow dripping from paint brush
Brush and palette demons
Brush me aside St Remy
St Remy scintillating lights
St Remy taunting my window
Window cracked at midnight
Window my tortured soul
Soul like a vise
Soul of asylum
Asylum of barred protection
Asylum saturated in beauty
Beauty of Alpilles Mountains
Beauty slices through pain
Pain profound echoes
Pain persistent menace
Menace soaked in turpentine
Menace in closed corridors
Corridors locked for safety
Corridors muffle the sound
Sound reverberates as color
Sound of Theos voice
Voice crawling into corners
Voice lightly coaxing
Coaxing me together
Coaxing me brother
Brother he insists
Brother father caretaker
Caretaker of my loose mind
Caretaker of The Yellow House
House of my dreams
House of melancholy
Melancholy
Dreams
Previously published in The Ekphrastic Journal 2/2022
Poetry in this post: © Debbie Walker-Lass
Published with the permission of Debbie Walker-Lass