In Zoe’s eyes the birds don’t sing,
waters run too shallow.
If she could sleep those worries away for a
Blink-length in time…
In Zoe’s hands winds drop bland,
little scabs tremble with the memory.
She fears no strangers but each
is an intruder
she will not talk to.
She fills in gaps with words apt and inept.
Oilcloth strips she stuffs in crack,
when cracks are all she sees and walks on.
Answers rehearsed, eyes dart to the left,
A clue we have seen before and again.
Zoe’s skin bears the weight of all scars
Her own and the world’s.
When you look
through Zoe’s eyes
Your world temperature turns down a notch.
Linked to dVerse Poets Pub: Poetic Expressions. This week it was all about Dominant Impressions in Artistic Expression. For me, Venetian carnival masks are all about sadness rather than gaiety.
findingtimetowrite 
In Zoe’s eyes the birds don’t sing…you already had me in the mood with this first line…i also think many of the carnival masks have that sad feeling about them…carnival over here just over and hope the spring comes now…smiles
We went to see the Venetian carnival masks in Annecy and, despite the lovely festive atmosphere and fun and prizes being given for best costume etc. there is always something unsettling about hiding your identity and being silent, isn’t there? As it should be: Carnival is all about turning social norms on their head!
interesting on how the masks we wear can color our world you know….masks are fascinating, but i agree…between the mystery there is a bit of sadness….they always make me wonder just what is being hidden…
Exactly! Hiding and not allowing others to approach…
…very intriguing & mystic… i wonder how hard it is to be in Zoe’s disposition… you really set quite a moody image here… really interesting share… smiles…
Thank you for a lovely prompt – your pictures were really striking, but I had already set my heart on Carnival masks. ‘Tis the season here (only just still).
Marina Sofia – There is so much isn’t there behind the public faces we wear. You’ve expressed it eloquently as ever.
Quite a lot of crime novels have carnival and masks somewhere in their story line – it’s the perfect occasion to hide, be anonymous and destroy the natural order of things, isn’t it?
You had me at the opening lines…through Zoe’s eyes, everything is dark and full of scars ~ You painted a somber mood here, very well penned ~
Grace
Thank you, Grace. I was also slightly self-ironical here, because I tend to see the world through rather sombre eyes.
Yes, this feels really like an abused child. The end is especially strong. k.
Interesting – I didn’t really have that in mind when I wrote it, but now that I read it with that in mind, you are right. It does convey that feeling!
We go through life wearing masks all the time – usually to hide the pain behind our eyes, sometimes from fear that if people really knew what we are like, then they wouldn’t like us. You hooked me with the darkness of the first line – and never let me go.
Thank you, I really appreciate that, coming from you. Your poems are always thought-provoking and emotion-evoking.
And yet it is the eyes that reveal…
Aha! “Zoe’s skin bears the weight of all scars
Her own and the world’s”
So, is this why you think masks are so sad? Actually I have thought they are sad too. This line, at least, made ME sad.
oops, i just realized I replied via my work’s account. don’t answer that one!
yes i can imagine her perspective, careful and one step removed. well described.