Wish You Were Here

The Belvedere in Vienna has no beach towels,
rows of deckchairs and rainbow parasols,
sandcastles, sparkling water and beach balls.

There is no beach, you know I like to go off track,
but even at the museum I found a postcard rack
from which to choose some artwork to send back.

I saw this one and thought of you again.
Sorry about the Sachertorte stains.

Kim M. Russell, 7th April 2024

Postcard from the Belvedere
‘The Hanged Man’ by Franz Xavier Messerschmidt (1736-1783)

And on the seventh day and first Sunday of Na/GloPoWriMo, our challenge is to write a poem with the title ‘Wish You Were Here’, which takes its inspiration from the idea of a postcard. Consistent with the abbreviated format of a postcard, our poems should be short, and should play with the idea of travel, distance, or sightseeing.

The rather gruesome postcard is one I brought back from one of many visits to Vienna, but the message is to an imaginary person.

17 thoughts on “Wish You Were Here”

  3. I liked how you wrote about the things that weren’t right to show how much you were missing the person. The ‘Sachertorte stains’ gave a sweet touch to the poem and the picture on the pc made me laugh. Enjoyed it!

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  6. That face really is expecting the death blow!

    I like the tone of this, conversational and witty. The almost-rhymes give the feel of well-chosen words, more lyrical than the emphatic rhymes in the second stanza where you explain what you did and why.

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