FREE VERSE Poem: Pictures at an Exhibition, by Xinran

I.
Endless white stretches
Beyond the horizon
Devoid of color
A blinding
Empty
Canvas

II.
Discordant colors will
Erupt
With a single stroke of the brush
Shattering the
Stillness

III.
Press into the canvas
And precise details
Morph into a
Whirlwind of chaos.
Ar
t

IV.
The elegantly carved
Wooden box
Borrows my voice and
Sings to the world
What I couldn’t say

V.
Melodies flourish from
Crimson threads
Spewing from the
Cuts
Where the metal strings
Dig into my fingers

VI.
Under the
Unwavering gaze of
A thousand pairs of eyes
I radiate
Brighter than the
Blinding stage lights

VII.
Under an
Eternally bright sun
The flower
Burns

VII.
From the ashes of the
Perished flower
A sapling pushes its way
Through the hardened soil

IX.
The hint of green peeks through a
Crack in the sidewalk
Only to be trampled on
The mom