Lise Colas - Private Reflections of a Silhouette Artist / Holy Pelican

Private Reflections of a Silhouette Artist

Close the shutters,
exclude the bright day,
let darkness consume the form
to reveal a royal contour
in the spill of the lamp
and with soft pencil, commence to trace
her shadow'd face,
taking care to leave the margin clear--
then usher the subject to the finishing chair,
pick up the scissors
and with one eye on the map,
navigate an exquisite line along her forehead,
nose and lips where blades dip,
around the chin at journey’s end--
don’t attempt to hack
or meddle with thoughts of alteration,
but press on,
the scissor’s mouth working left to right
unimpeded, acknowledging every cleft--
as slivers curl away from petal skin
daubed with lampblack--
and to finish, sculpt an eyelash
by teasing out sweet morsels.

Holy Pelican

A heraldic offering
blazoned,
involuntary,
broods on a field sinister
of stark gules and rusted argent--
hope an abandoned crest,
sacrificed--
the leaden flux coats
something angels dare not
not look upon--
wings clipped,
I remain ensconced in that sterile nest
mortified,
pecking at my breast.

Lise Colas writes poetry and short fiction and lives on the south coast of England. She has a BA (Hons) in Fine Art and used to work in the archive of Punch Magazine. In the summer months she often wishes she had a pet raven to scare off noisy seagulls.