Time has drawn
a relief map,
traced contours,
filled this skin with flaws
and points of reference:
dimples, moles and scars,
a geography of life,
and with it the relief
of night-sky freedom
and earthy wisdom.
Kim M. Russell, 2018
My response to Poets United Midweek Motif ~ Poetry about the Body and linked to dVerse Poets Pub Open Link Night.
Sumana has given us not only a couple of quotes but also poems to think abot this Wednesday. She asks us how we view our body images – with the eye of the media / advertisement / anyone apart from our own selves or as our own bodies. She says that the artists of both the ancient and the modern world paid homage to the human body in their art and sculpture, and modern writers in their words. Sumana asks us to sing about this human body in a new poem.
writing in north norfolk 
A fitting poem for such a fascinating sculpture.
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Thank you!
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I love that “night sky freedom and earthy wisdom”. Wonderful!
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geography of life.. one has to love those flaws!
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Thank you, Rajani!
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What a wonderful homage to this work of art! The imagery of ‘relief map’ is fantastic and so are the closing lines! Brilliant Kim!
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Thank you, Sumana!
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A map reflecting a life . …flaws and imperfections set off by wisdom
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Wonderful words Kim, and without the image would still speak on their own.
Anna :o]
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Thanks Anna 🙂
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This is beautiful!❤️ We each experience our share of joys and woes in this world that reflect upon our body and soul. Especially love; “the relief of night-sky freedom and earthy wisdom.”❤️
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Thank you, Sanaa. 🙂
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“Relief” works as a type of map and also as letting go of a burden–I love that sense of possibility your poem allows!
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Thank you, Susan.
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very nice. worthy of the sculpture.
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Thank you, Noel.
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Ah, such Splendid Grooviness.. 😎🥀
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Beautifully written – and yes we shared the same skin map 😉
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🙂
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Rather that see what has happened to our changing skin, hair, posture and blemishes as failures they should be regarded as achievements in running the race, doing what we could, and still getting to the end and able to talk about the life we had.
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Oh yes, definitely!
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A great depiction of the aging process!
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Thank you!
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You express my point of view in this. I see my many scars (and more) as battle scars, a testament to survival. That Rodin is marvelous.
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Me too, Victoria, although I don’t think I would pose for a painting or sculpture. 🙂
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I do love Rodin so much, and recall a long time when we had it as a prompt… the aging and what you learn from it is a great subject to ponder.
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When David and I last visited Paris we spent almost a day at the Rodin museum. I love his work. That statue expresses what a lot of older women feel. Is it the same for men?
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I know of no statue expressing the same… but maybe my old librarian expresses the aging…
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True!
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I loved the poem before I got to the image and it stands alone without it and yet the statue is a perfect image to lend substance to the words. Our faces tell the story of us in all it’s beauty and strife.
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🙂
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A beautiful write Kim, I love the idea of the body as a ‘relief map’ and ‘a geography of life’ :o) xxx
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Thank you, Xenia! 🙂 xxx
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Your poem is fraught with truth & wisdom, and it seems very personal, reminding me that with aging comes sagging, scarring, & pain, yet in the mirror we still find our own youth in the eyes.
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I look more and more like my mother and grandmother every time I see myself in the mirror.
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My favourite line is – a geography of life… it is a wonderful description and a wonderful way of seeing.
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Thanks Alison.
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Love that geography of life, specially the earthy wisdom ~
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🙂
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kaykuala
Geography of life, how clever to see it that way, Kim!
Hank
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Thanks Hank!
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I like the view of skin as “a geography of life”.
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Thanks Frank!
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I love the simplicity and the depth here–beautifully penned
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Thank you kindly.
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A geography of life, yes the journey in each wrinkle tells a story. You have captured it!
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Thank you!
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I see a woman whose life was sucked right out of her. That bowed head, the one hand almost tied behind her back. The geography of a life is a potent descriptor of the figure. You gave her back her honour with the last two lines.
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It’s how I was feeling but I think I can see the sky now!
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With or without the sculpture, this poem speaks loudly and deeply. Those ‘points of reference’. beautiful.
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Thanks Jane!
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I love your use of imagery here. Very nicely done.
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Thank you, Gretchen.
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“…flaws / and points of reference…” One of those turns of phrase I wish I’d written. It catches and holds the mind. All of it is lovely, but this is memory fodder.
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Thank you, Charley!
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You are welcome!
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I’d say that “the relief of night-sky freedom” is worth every line and freckle.
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🌌
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Lovely poem! I love Rodin.
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Thank you, me too!
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An incarnational poem, Kim! Wonderful!
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Thank you, Frank!
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My pleasure, Kim!
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SMiLe mY
friEnd FoR iT iS
True most everyone
might benefit from
dying at LeAst
once
and living
again without
fear finally first.. reAlly
Free and only Drenched
iN As iS LoVE.. MoRE
oR
perHaps
PoeTry as sNoW..:)
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Smiling right back at you!
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Thanks
Kim..:)
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I enjoyed your take on aging. A relief map for sure… not worried about the night life!
Dwight
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🙂
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Lovely! 🙂
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Thank you!
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