most spellbinding…most absorbing
is her gaze from beneath God’s arm
toward Adam’s last oblivion
her…my…instant dawning
empathy pierces through me
like a tiny stroke
I know…
cloud gazers see a diorama…
some halved sugar crystal Easter
egg of iconic chaos
perception varies…the magenta cloak
is brain semi-skull …is female uterus
is reminiscent Botticelli
yet…
what enthralls me absolute…
her prescience… exquisite as a
master cellist’s single bowing
this quintessential
this timeless
this Michelangelo
Bonnie Marshall
Fresco by Michelangelo Buonarroti
Sistine Chapel
Proem... 
Reblogged this on lampmagician.
Dang! Never saw Eve/Lilith there before! (I think technically Lilith as she was coeval with Adam, til she misbehaved, upgraded to Eve, misbehaved….)
Eloquent, Simon. I’m glad you read what I write. Very. Smile.
Extraordinary! Love it! You’ve allowed me to see things in this picture that I had not seen before and almost certainly would never have discovered.
Then I’m pleased, John…very much. Know I value you, dear reader.
So intriguing!
Thank you very much, Sistine traveler! Smile.
Ha! Perfect lesson through poetry. Meet you on the playground… 🙂
Hooray! Glorious…fun, dear friend!
to use your words, what enthralls me is your lines “her prescience… exquisite as a
master cellist’s single bowing.” have been listening to cellos a lot recently, so immediately i heard a sustained tone in my head, warm and burnished. it’s wonderful writing. the whole piece, actually.
All reverberation, isn’t it…and know I respect your insight. Very much.
Bonnie, I too have never noticed that beautiful woman and arresting look under God’s arm. I understand there is some dispute about whether it is Eve or the Virgin Mary, but if the latter it is a most unusual depiction. This poem is definitely one of your more intriguing ones. Thank you so much, I really enjoyed listening to you recite while looking at the picture.
Malcolm, I gratefully appreciate your interest in this woman who I think is Virgin Mary. Notice God has his hand on a stylized Jesus cherubim…yet his Mary seems virginal, intelligent and knowing. His depiction of Eve…later down the ceiling is almost bestial. I sense Buonarotti is giving a brave sermon in that chapel, yet we haven’t caught all of his irony nor his humor. It’s fun to search for it. Smiles, dear reader.