One Poem by Martha Landman

Written in response to this month’s Special Challenge.

Through Altamira’s Window into the Past

The forest is restless
for the wisent’s cloven hooves
summer winds are eager
to rustle its shaggy coat
whip its short-brush tail

A world awaits the bulls’
roar in mating season
the snorts and grunts of herds
grazing in valleys and on plains

the broad muscular beast
in charcoal and ochre —
chiaroscuro
rendered in rock contours
cave painters preserved
what hunters erased

Through Altamira’s window
we run backwards
into the Magdalenian wisent’s eyes
the pain of being stuck on a wall

 

Martha Landman writes in Adelaide, South Australia where she is a member of the Friendly Street Poets. Her work has appeared online and in print in UK, US and Australia.