This is a ekphrastic poem I wrote in collaboration with Shreveport Artists Club and Shreveport Writer’s Club.
Caught
By Shanna Dodd
In the gloaming, Morpheus comes to me
a weighted whisper, purring, low and warm.
She stands. A sharp promise on my chest.
I am caught
drowning in a sea of shining green.
A loamy smell, pungent and strange,
shocks me from my trance.
I find myself transported
to a wild wood. Lights and shadows dance
in the bruised and purple dusk they turn in circles
among ancient standing stones singing down the moon.
The twilight deepens.
A black cat stands sentinel.
Guardian of the mysteries that quicken the heart
and flutter in the deep dark. The cat’s eyes widen.
She is gone.
There is a fire burning. Others gathered round it.
Cat’s prey, white-eyed and soundless, they quake
as the fire crackles like old bones breaking.
I huddle close.
From the blue-black depths comes a lady dressed
In flowing umbra. Eyes of green and a knowing smile,
she glides sinuously towards us.
We dare not move.
With a clap like thunder the night falls heavy
crushing the fire. We scatter as embers
fly and fall and die. Stars in the night.
Running blind, I trip and fall and
I am caught!
Claws like knives dig into me
I scream! And
wake up, sweat-drenched
panting and all atremble,
I turn on the lamp.
She is there
in the corner. Eyes of green and
a knowing smile. Purring.
Cleaning her claws.