Thoughts on a Stone Fairy

Photo from social media attributed to Jean-Michel Bihorel

I started to write this one when I first saw this photo on Facebook.  I did some research to find the true name of the mountain and then wrote down a few lines. Then I saw Eugenia’s weekly prompt was “fairy” and things took off from there.

UPDATE– However, the fact checkers did not have all the facts when I checked, and it seems I was duped.  Fact checkers I used (and I used several) only had the name of the mountain as being incorrect, and they all agreed that this was a drone image.  However, it seems they have been updated and the image is really the digital work of an artist named Jean-Michel Bihorel.  Thank you to Susi Blocks who brought this to my attention.  I may remove the post entirely but I will take a minute to think about that.

https://amanpan.com/2020/08/10/eugis-weekly-word-prompt-fairy-august-10-2020/

She rests now,

              Snowbound,

              ‘Sleeping,

Some giant stone fairy of another land,

Another time, when fantastic creatures

Walked with us.

There is in me

Awe, admiration of her peace—

Thinking wistfully of what if’s—

Had I been born a giantess of stone

Or one with fairy blood of snow—

I could have loved her,

              Curled behind her,

              Spooned for centuries.

              No one to care,

              Know,

              Disturb the peace

              We shared—

              Till seen from above

              By a modern drone—

Then perhaps humanity might again know

Fantastical creatures once roamed,

Possessing magic.

But I am no fantastic being.

Possessing no magic,

I am no match for a mythic wonder.

My blood, without a drop of the fairy kind,

Destine for warmer, ordinary climes.

Published by

Annette Kalandros

I am a retired teacher, enjoying everything that retirement means. In addition, I have been active in the LGBTQ community since I was four years old and marched my Ken doll with all his little Ken accouterments to the big metal trash can in the yard. Yes, I dumped Ken, along with said accouterments, into the can and slammed the lid on. My two Barbie dolls lived happily ever after.

22 thoughts on “Thoughts on a Stone Fairy”

  2. After reading your message first about the picture itself, I was then especially struck by your line, “I am no match for mythic wonder”, and I thought — well, is it really any less Wonder-ful when someone uses their imagination and creative ability as the photographer / digital artist does here, than when Nature does? And aren’t are artistic achievements a reflection of what we see in a Creator’s / Creation’s artistic achievements. I thought about the artistic worlds and images that writers like Tolkien or artists like Van Gogh create, and then thought about you, as a poet, and how I am sure you have experienced those times when the poetry “leads” you, and the words become their own force or muse and when you yourself are “no match for the mystic wonder” that seems to rise from somewhere deep inside an ancient, mythically-proportioned self? I think this poem is all the better for your journey with the photo itself and I thank you very much for sharing it all — photo, prompt, and as always your poetic artistry of imagery, myth, metaphor and — je ne sais quoi! — and the “unknown bit” is sometimes the most lovely.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. You are right and have a valid point. At first I felt a little duped by the fact checkers I ran the photo by because I thought it had to be “doctored.” But all I could find was a correction on the name of the “mountain” it supposedly was. So a few days later when Susi Bocks found the truth of it (I suppose the fact checkers had caught up with it by then or someone had dug a little deeper), I just felt–duped. With all the misinformation, misrepresentation, and half truths floating around right now, I thought about taking it down. However, I’ve decided to leave it in place since it really is a reaction to a work of art which doesn’t make it any less valid than a reaction to a work of nature– I suppose. Thank you, Jane.

      Like

      Reply
  3. Pingback: Eugi’s Weekly Prompt “Night meets Day” August 17, 2020 – Eugi's Causerie I

    1. I found the same false from Snopes. However, at the time I looked it up, they had no information about it being a digital image rather than a drone. All they had was information which stated the mountain was misnamed. Thank you. I will make suitable attribution to the artwork immediately, or I may remove the post completely.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  7. Pingback: “Fairy” prompt participants – Ramblingswithusha; Hearing The Mermaids Sing; Keep it alive – Eugi's Causerie I

  8. What a coincidence you saw the photo on Facebook around the same time as my prompt! The photo is amazing and your poem is a perfect reflection of the stone fairy. Thank you so much for joining in.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.