Precious Moments
The moony eyes of Precious Moments figurines
ogle the swelling crowd on the other side
of the glass. From the neck down, the shop
is peachy. The Royal Doulton ladies simper on
their glass shelves, the hems of their gowns
swirling around slim ankles. The fat faces
on the jugs leer with customary drunkenness,
and ceramic puppies pause from gnawing
at your slipper, the very picture of adorable
guilt. But the red neon sign, Alan’s Collectibles,
and everything above it is on fire. Flames
chew through the green awning and roof
patiently, and shreds of the blackened canvas
drift down like foliage. Framing the fire,
but unaffected by it, the orange and red
leaves of neighboring trees, and, of course, people,
standing still to watch the fire, holding out
cell phones like torches, pointing them up.
Your a wonderful painter. Your brush strokes portray the nuance the eye needs to behold.
ReplyDeleteLove how you romanticize an otherwise sad and tragic event.
echoing nene....NICE...cell phone generation...ugh
ReplyDeleteHappy Wednesday Hannah!
So well written, Hannah.
ReplyDeleteKind of haunting throughout, but those cell phones make one more of your killer endings. Strong stuff, Hannah.
ReplyDeletePrecious Moments! Did you know there's a precious moments park and chapel in Missouri? Here's a link:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.preciousmoments.com/content.cfm/park_chapel
It sounds like a real fire you experienced, and your images of the shop are vivid. Items like these do seem to come alive, and in a fire, I could see the life in them being evident, even more. And then you bring in the "human" element, the watchers with their camera phones, being watched by the collectibles.
ReplyDelete