The stairway is not
the woman
nor the stairway
the bird
The bird sees the woman
but the woman does not see
the light
The light descends
over the flight of the blackbird
over the black form of
the woman
The woman is not resting
nor sleeping nor dreaming
curled weary on
the limestone
The limestone does not know
the hardness of
each step
Each step
is blind to
the descent and
the ascent
The ascent is known
only by the light
and the bird
and the woman
singing
singing
singing
Photograph by Gregory Colbert shared by Carrie Burtt for her Sunday Muse #229 ekphrastic prompt. (Thank you, Carrie.) Click here to join in.
Dreams from a Pilgrimage 
Dora, this reads like a puzzle or a story problem. It piques my curiosity.
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Minimalism has its “vagueries” doesn’t it? Getting to the unity or the spirituality of the photograph is what I was aiming at anyway. 😉
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Yes it does and you succeeded ❤
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🙏❤️❤️
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Splendid Dora, I felt I was treading the stairs… 👍🏼🙂✌🏼
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Thank you, Rob. What an encouraging reader you are! Appreciate all your comments 🙏🙂
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This is a thought provoking poem Dora.
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The picture made me stare and stare — So much being said but none exactly. Thanks for reading, Sadje. 🙏❤️
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My pleasure.
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Love the clean simplicity of your words in this, Dora.
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Lovely compliment, thank you, Marion. 🙏😊
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I absolutely adore this Dora! It reads like a message that must be rubbed together in our hand like stones until we feel it. Truly lovely writing!
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I love your description of it, poetry in itself. Thank you so much, Carrie, also for the beautiful selection of prompts. 🙏💖
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Words and picture in perfect harmony.
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Lovely compliment, thank you, Keith. 🙏🙂
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Good description of the picture. Astute observations!
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Thank you, Jimmy. 🙏🙂
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This reads like a beautiful chant ~~ I love it!
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I’d not thought of it like that, but it adds to that mysticism the photo suggested to me. Thank you, Helen. 🙏❤️
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Very interesting, Dora. Read like clues to a riddle. 🙂
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That’s about how the picture seems to me – a riddle posed by the photographer. Thanks for reading, Punam. 🙏🙂
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A puzzling photo handled brilliantly, Dora. I love the repeating phrases.
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