portrait

by

Nicholas Manning

 

 

face *
to mould
an image is : in ivory
the soul’s full * flux to case
an icon’s eyes . . . as what is lost ?
a subtle movement swift
(re)marked *
emotions to(o)
ardent * animation visible ?
this we know : the statue’s glance
in more than mortal stone
lasts * corporeal as
the temples’
ruins soon with worldly roses
grown . . . as eyes which
for a nowhere * live :
absent
as that famed bouquet . . . for
flesh (is) stone
which seeks some
too * cold countenance
while the distant darkness
rises overwhelming
the lifeless
face . . . there are flowers (hidden)
in your regard : there are
centuries

Nicholas Manning graduated from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, with a B.A in Comparative Literature and French. He was then a recipient of a three-year scholarship to the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he is currently completing his second year of study. Last year he took his Maîtrise (MA Degree) at the Sorbonne with a thesis on the contemporary French poet Philippe Jaccottet. His poetry has appeared, or is soon to appear, in the following literary journals: Free Verse, Manifold, eratio, The Rose & Thorn, Shampoo, Stylus, MiPOesias, Blue Fifth Review, CipherJournal, Fire, Imago.

 

 

 

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