Always, the touch of his hand
on mine, is unforeseen
as if he had just rounded
the river’s bend and
caught me between
a rock and a hard place.
And with his touch
I am reminded
that wild water lilies just
appear - to float upon a peerless mirror
in truth, they are rooted in the earth below
and pierce the pond . . .
and pierce the pond . . . and so,
I am lifted from the tangle of reflection,
and the rolling ripples of thought
to which I have confined myself
and, happily, return to the real world:
Triumphant Lady of Shalott.
note: The Lady of Shalott is a mythic character who
lives by herself in a castle, on an island upstream from Camelot. She is tasked
with looking at the world outside in a mirror, and to weave what she sees into
a tapestry. She is forbidden to look at the outside world directly. One day,
she sees the reflection of Sir Lancelot riding by. Although she knows that it is forbidden, she
looks out the window at him. The mirror shatters, the tapestry flies away
in a tempestuous wind and, in the ensuing storm, the lady leaves her castle,
finds a boat, and drifts down the river to Camelot, where she dies.
The Lady of Shalott is one of
Tennyson's most enduring poems and the story was illustrated in several paintings
– the most popular being by John William Waterhouse in 1888. The story is, of course, loaded with
symbolism. Agatha Christie wrote a Miss
Marple Mystery entitled "The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side", which
I read and loved. (where movie star, Marina
Gregg is seen with a "frozen" look on her face likened to the Lady of
Shalott, as though "doom has come upon her"). And
novelist Jessica Anderson wrote Tirra Lirra by the River (which I haven’t yet
read) but which is the story of a modern woman's decision to break out of
confinement.
photos: Wild Water Lilies – W. Bourke
The Lady of Shalott, by John
William Waterhouse, public domain.
© 2014 Wendy
Bourke
