Marie-France's beautiful pastel, ( Tana ou La Nuit) evoking
tones of fantastical beauty,
has inspired this month's poem called, "The Shape-Shifter". Like the title
suggests, the character is surreal and has the ability to transform herself
from female to bird. In the moonlight, she appears wading/dancing in shallow
water, a young woman who has migrated here from the desert. She has disrobed
herself of traditional garb and a cultural identity. Having lived her life as a
Bedouin, veiled in the darkness of her clothing and a
tent sheltering against the fierce heat and wind, she felt confined,
uncomfortable. Something strange and wild within kept beckoning. Some calling from a land of
trees, water, and wings. Some place that was indicative of her natural roots.
Using the power of her will, prayer and
need for change, she transported to this climate by the craft of imagination. In the morning, she has
metamorphosed into a white flamingo; her
beautiful reflection rippling in the sunlit water. Like in other tales of folkloric shape-shifting , the figure is not fully
defined and remains mysterious. Logic is not part of the storyline's equation,
but rather the loveliness of speculating on the scene and circumstances from an
individual point of view.
The moon unravels in sheer mist
enshrouding the lake and woods. A girl
wades in the shallow water
pale as a white flamingo.
Her arms stretch in the wind
as if she were pulling her shadow
from beyond the mangrove trees, the story
of her migration from the east
where rain is rare. Where her breath
could not dissolve in the blue
sky because of dust and skillet heat.
She has wandered here, desert bride
who shed robes and veil
to wash her soul in the wetlands,
to re-inhabit her roots.
Tomorrow, there will be no trace
of the girl's dance.
Only a bird
seeking to catch fish
and a glimpse
of herself transformed
in the rippling light.
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