Wild Warning

An Ekphrastic Sonnet

By D. J. ReddallPublished 2 years ago • Updated 2 years ago • 1 min read

Odd Nerdrum, "The Black Cloud," 1986

I suspect that you will not believe me

You will dismiss me as a silly fool

I do not understand why you can't see

What I watch breaking every, ancient rule

Supine was I, as you are now: cocooned

I saw only the old, familiar sky

Or the backs of my eyelids, all festooned

With flashing patterns that reason defy

But I was roused from my idle dreaming

By sweaty, nervous, dreadful sensations

To spot yonder a new darkness seeming

Strange and deep enough to eat nations

Drowse through my wild warning as you see fit

The cloud eats those who don't believe in it

I write because my time is limited and my imagination is not.

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