Unmasking a Stranger

Coy behind a marble lion,
she seduced tourists in the square,
no bashful burn behind the mask
to match the colour of her hair.
She was Casanova’s doxy,
a carnival Columbina,
until she packed herself away
in tissue for another year.
Then she merged into the shadows
of the bridges and the alleys
with her crucifix, mementos,
and faded glass rosary:
a wrinkled Venetian beauty,
aged but resolute in her duty.

Kim M. Russell, 2018

Unmasking a Stranger

My response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Eulogy for a stranger

I just got back from a trip on Thursday, so I hadn’t got around to catching up until this morning when I saw Izzy’s prompt, which caught my imagination. She says that she has set us a challenge to defy the conventions of a particular theme and find new places in the everyday. She encourages us to connect to the world swirling all around us – specifically our own kind – by writing a eulogy for a stranger.

Izzy asks us to pick one stranger we have encountered and write their eulogy. We should imagine their triumphs, the funny little stories that we would want to share with their family and friends, the defining moments we want to highlight based on only our initial assessment.

As I was away celebrating our silver wedding anniversary with my husband, I’ve picked a stranger from one of the photographs I took on our trip.

48 thoughts on “Unmasking a Stranger”

  4. This is an amazing image – really fascinating and how lucky you were there – and how wonderful for us that you’ve chosen to use it! It’s stunningly intriguing. 😀

    And your eulogy is amazing – it really is so rich, lavish, and it poses enough questions for us to stop and think of the associations and the mysteries – after all, it’s all about location, location, location, and in the timing – as well as the contrasts.

    Superb Kim!

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  5. Oh, how fun, Kim! First of all welcome back and happy anniversary! Also, I really like the adventure you packed into your poem. I love how the characters fun loving spirit is also captured in the fun rhyming structure. Thanks so much for posting and viva la!!!!

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    1. Thank you, Anna! It was very cold and misty, and I got a chest infection, but it was wonderful . Since we got back, the canals in Venice have dried up! 🙂

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  12. Oh Venetian carnivals are so colorful and rich with culture and history. How wonderful you were able to visit there and brought life to this picture! 😊

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  18. This is stunning! Such beautiful writing:

    “no bashful burn”

    “She was Casanova’s doxy”

    “she merged into the shadows
    of the bridges and the alleys
    with her crucifix, mementos,
    and faded glass rosary”

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    Reply

  26. kaykuala

    a wrinkled Venetian beauty,
    aged but resolute in her duty.

    Travels have the advantage of discovering new entities or personalities. Mundane daily activities are given some new energy!

    Hank

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