Sharp-eyed
and sharp-bladed,
she emerges from the depths
of the forest,
where sharp grasses
tangle and slice,
vibrant berries belie
poison and piercing thorns,
and creatures crawl
and creep, curious
to see such beauty
shining through the shadows.
Sharp-eyed
and sharp of tooth,
they emerge from the depths
of the forest,
hungry for forgotten beauty.
Kim M. Russell, 1st June 2019
Used with Permission
My response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Art FLASH/55
For this weekend’s art collaboration, Kerry has introduced Eli Edward Evangelidis, an Australian illustrator and engraver from Sydney, who has given permission for us to use one of his beautiful pen and ink pieces as poetic inspiration.
writing in north norfolk 
good alliteration..Creatures crawl, creep curious
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Thanks Larry.
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I really love the progression from darkness into light in this… how can a predator handle such beauty?
Or is it the beauty itself that is the most venomous?
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Thanks Bjorn. I think you might be right about beauty being venomous.
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Wow!! This is deliciously dark and brooding, Kim ❤️ I love the use of alliteration here and the image; “vibrant berries belie poison and piercing thorns.”
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At first the image looked like a fairy tale illustration, but the closer I looked the darker it got! ❤
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Yikes. What a creeping horror in this. Everything here is famished for the unblemished throat of beauty. Fantastic response to image and challenge.
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I wonder if beauty will use her charm or her knife.
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Things come to life here, Kim. Through the rough it was worth it at the end. A fun, exciting read.
..
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Thank you, Jim!
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I like the use of soft and hard sounds in this Kim. The alliteration is good too and adds to the darkness.
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Thanks Toni!
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Beauty seems to have her own set of weapons to match the ones belonging to the things lurking in the woods. I like that there is no victor directly stated in this oldest of battles. So much depends on the level of cunning of those involved, plus no small amount of luck.
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It’s not a level playing field!
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Too late, they remember?
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“Hungry for forgotten beauty.” I love that.
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Thank you, Sherry.
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hungry for forgotten beauty! Wowzers
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Thank you, Margaret!
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The pacing and tone put us right next to her, running and panting… rushing to fight whatever will satiate that final line.
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Do you know, Magaly, I didn’t even think about pacing and tone, it just came out like that!
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Delicious!
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The ‘sharpness’ of words and precision of alliteration give a cutting edge to this description, Kim. I loved it.
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Thank you, Kerry. There was so much to see in the image, and that’s what jumped out at me.
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A wonderful response to the image Kim.
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Thank you, Linda.
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“sharp eyed and sharp bladed”
Great response to this art.
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Thank you, Sara.
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Fantastic!
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Thank you!
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Such a wonderful response to the image. I love the mixture of dark and light in this.
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There was so much to see in that black and white image, Susie!
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