This poetry challenge is about the smile of the famous Mona Lisa painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. The lady’s smile (and it has been said that she may not be all ‘she’ seems) is one of the most enigmatic smiles ever painted. To submit your poem or haiku which can be as profound, humorous, long or short as you like, either submit in the comments section here or send it by email to me and I will put it on this page. You can use the logo on your blog – but please link to me:) The challenge is write a poem or a haiku about that smile, or the lady or the relationship between the artist and the lady. Here’s mine:-
The Lips don’t lie
Shut up!
Already
Moaning!
Mona Lisa
As I try to
Keep the brush steady
With my ingenious strokes…
Whilst your countenance
Provokes
Me!
If only they knew
What a shrew
And a nag
You are
My muse,
And the amount
Of abuse
I take
As you smile…
Well, they would run
A mile
And not waste their sighs
Nor their wonderings why’s?
On your enigmatic smile…
If only they knew you…
Like I…..
Lynda M Roberts ©2010
Poem No; 2 is by Kserverny who IS the artswebshow – check out his blog HERE
Moaner Lisa.
.
Only one other woman ever smiled at me this way.
A repressed smile.
A prudent glare that wracks me with guilt, for a crime i have yet to commit.
her name was also Lisa.
The moaner Lisa.
And i wonder why i have to sit at night,
And contemplate how to shut you up.
.
“Do this, do that”
you neigh with that horrid half smile that say’s,
“get to work my dear domestic slave”
.
I reflect intently on my lost youth.
Consider how to end this dilemna.
Divorce?
Or something more radical.
Anything to remove that infuriating smirk from your face.
Who am i kidding?
I will still take your smile to my grave.
Poem No:3 is by 47whitebuffalo – Check out her wondeful blog, full of artistic delights HERE
entering your court
alone, worn soles floor kissing
sharing silence smirk
own secrets lacking
you made all mysterious
pale reality
@wojcik
The 4th poem is from incomplete History and it’s our first Haiku!
A haiku:
Mona Lisa smile.
Scream! Scream two, scream three…last summer…
I know what you did.
Our 5th poem is from RASH 11 who has some wonderful and unusual poem on his blog and it’s seen from Mona Lisa’s perspective for a change:-
Framed
September 29, 2010 by patrickseguin
Written and posted in response to Lynda Roberts’ Bookstains Poetry Challenge: Mona Lisa’s Smile
I’ve been dead so many times
that all the secrets of the grave
blur and roll and rumble
through my soft sideway stare
and impossible smile
beyond the flash and comprehension
of my fanny-packed audience
I’m not the spectacle
they think I am
just another ghost
stuck between limbo
and hell
wishing I could fade
into the cold mountains
at my back
or at least rise up
turn away
and relearn the pleasure
of strolling down
smooth winding paths
into the hard blue water
crashing along my shore
Our 6th poem is by Adam Dustus – who has a wonderful blog, full of poems, writings and very clever and inspirational photography! Find him HERE
Knowing What He Didn’t Know
Her eyes couldn’t help but glow
Knowing what he didn’t know
There is someone missing
From cradling arms
Lisa’s lips hath subtle charm
Under cover of dark dress
For life she holds a child blessed
Our next poem (No:7) is from Gabriela Abalo. She has a lovely blog with short stories, and poetry – her blog has the apt title ‘Embracing who we are’. Please check it out:)
Essence
I am an eternal freak
The keeper of an everlasting mystery
Which is the secret of my vanishing grim?
Light or darkness makes a difference
Sometimes you see it
Sometimes you don’t
Games of your mind
Mirror of your emotions
I am me and I am you
A light hearted-woman
Or a Hermaphrodite?
To hold the enigma
Is my stigma
I am my master in disguise
If you really look you can see we are alike
I am not the mother
I am not the son
Since I am both and none
I am his masterpiece
His life companion
His mirror
Not his darkest secret
But his portrait of humankind
I am left and right
Masculine and feminine
Good and bad
The one with two faces
Who smiles and cries
At the same time
Yesterday, today and tomorrow
I am the world’s sorrow
I keep a mystery that none can borrow
I am Mona Lisa
So they say, so you say
I am La Gioconda
The one with the most famous, elegant smile
The entire world will ever talk about
© Gabriela Abalo
Poem number 8 is a sonnet! It has been contributed by Steve, whose blog Heednotsteve is enough to cheer anyone up with his wit, rhymes and life observations – please give it a visit:)
As Lisa sat, some centuries ago,
she surely didn’t hold a careful pose.
For, even as the artist placed her so,
she must’ve licked her lips or scratched her nose
or blinked her eyes or shifted in her seat,
if only while the artist looked away,
his eyes returning, every time, to greet
her pose, unchanged, throughout the stifling day.
The artist would’ve known, but could ignore
her minor change in posture. For the light
revealed to him composite truths. And, more,
his brush obeyed those vagaries of sight.
Enigma never lived in Mona’s smile.
It stems, instead, from Leonardo’s guile.
—-
© Steve Mitchell 2010
Our 9th poem in the Mona Lisa Poetry Challenge is from bendedspoon who has a cheerful, happy and delightful blog (please take a look)
- Mona Lisa by Da Vinci
Sorry world
please don’t hate me
but for the life of me
until now I can’t fathom
why Mona Lisa’s smile
is so famous.
Yes I love the painting
but the smile is all like other smiles
they are all special and meaningful.
Tell me, if back then
one of these faces was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci
and it was claimed that the smile is most enigmatic
don’t you think we will not rave about it to the end?
- The Smile
To repeat, please don’t hate me
because I admire Leonardo Da Vinci deeply
and Mona Lisa knows I love her
just like the rest of the Wonderful girls.
Lynda this is my smiling piece
for your Mona Lisa poetry challenge.
Just for the fun of it. Smile!
Our 10th contribution is a Haiku from Abigal Parker – she writes a Haiku a day! Check out her blog here
Mona Lisa’s smile
soothes our gaze and dissipates
the twisted distance.
It’s never too late to enter my poetry challenges!
Here’s a contribution for Chubbypenny whose poetry log is a labrynth of very original poems – you must take a look!
Mona Lisa snicker
i didn’t know him well, in fact hardly at all
and i’d never before sat to pose.
his idea was silly, really off the wall
~to paint me on a stool without my clothes.
he said he was interested only in my eyes,
of course i knew there was something more.
his brushes and oil were just a disguise
and he wanted my clothes to drop to the floor.
i decided to humor him with a very sly smile
and sat there quietly while he wondered why.
but my lips were tightly sealed all the while
never telling him he’d left open his fly.
i never knew what the fuss was about,
people have questioned my smile for years.
yes, his fly was open but nothing flew out
or else i’d have been laughing until there were tears
so all this time I’ve heard experts bicker
about the real reason behind my smile
but really, I must say it was more of a snicker
and everyone missed it by a mile.
© Chubbypenny 2011
m
–Oh an ‘abusive Mona’–my my, Lynda!
Between you and me 47whitebuffalo Kserverny IS Leonardo! read his poem and tell me that he doesn’t know this woman….
Great fun eh:D and a brilliant poem by him!
Tart as Leonardo–hmm! Oh he knows ‘some’ woman!
Kserverny you rule! Brilliant! thought of you taking that smile to your grave though…. :0
what is this crime that wracks you with guilt that you haven’t committed yet? Just go and DO it – take no notice of Moaner…lol
Wonderful contribution – and I thank you for it:)
entering your court
alone, worn soles floor kissing
sharing silence smirk
own secrets lacking
you made all mysterious
pale reality
@wojcik
Brilliant homage to Mona, Eva! I’ve often wondered at the ‘mystery’ versus the ‘pale reality’ of this woman/person. I can only guess why those soles are worn through…..too much homage?
Thanks for joining in and promoting – very appreciated:)
LOL–those soles were worn by a couple of months of footing it through London, Scotland, Dublin, Sligo, Le Harve, Rouen–you get the idea–planes, trains, buses, WALKING. In truth I unexpectedly had lots of time alone with Mona in an otherwise totally empty museum room in the Louvre–just because no one else was there!
—Question: Whence comes the mystery?–from US or from Her?
I think DEF from US! I think she was a woman/man that the great Leonardo’s ‘charms’ couldn’t quite get around………. (but he would have LOVED to..)
I don’t know how – but I seem to have TWO Mona Lisa pages! Incomplete History has just contributed a very interesting haiku (our first) I will comment further on Mona’s twins page:D
Oh I love “I know what you did”—LOL—thanks, Incomplete History.
Most welcome 🙂
Thanks to Patrick Seguin for ‘Framed’! He speaks for Mona Lisa, the ghost trapped behind the glass, smiling for her audience that crowds around her. This is a wonderfully sad and haunting poem – well done Patrick:)
I enjoyed Patrick’s poem very much. Mona the mysterious not wanting anything more than some personal peace. Thanks, PS!
Lynda, I like making these connections between visual and word artists. What/who is next?
Mmmm, well I got a few ideas up my sleeve, but ones a kind of obscure thing so prob wont interest many people.
It IS a good poem isn’t it!! I love the way everyone interprets these paintings very differently, really looking forward to doing more of these challenges (which reminds me….I haven’t contributed to the Van Gogh one myself yet!!)
Obscure can be very interesting! O go for it and see what comes out of the blogwork!
Ahhh yes YOU really ought to poem-up yourself!!!!
Hi Lynda. Great challenge idea, and the responses are excellent! More please 🙂 cheers
Mona Lisa as Madonna! I really like this idea! Well done Adam – a fine contribution! Many thanks:)
Hi Lynda,
Here’s my entry: http://heednotsteve.wordpress.com/2010/10/06/poetry-challenge-mona-lisas-smile/
Thanks!
Thanks Steve! Its a good one too! I love the idea of her scratching her nose, and getting back into position when Leonardo looks at her – never quite sure…..It gives her a playful side:)
A delighful contribution bendedspoon! I like how you have made us all into Mona Lisa’s! You’re right – Mona Lisa is after all just a painting – we are the real unvarnished thing and special in our own right! 😀
Thanks:)
Hi, I hope it is not too late to join in the fun! My “A Haiku Each Day” blog doesn’t have room for another post today but I will write my poem here, if that’s okay:
Mona Lisa’s smile
soothes our gaze and dissipates
the twisted distance.
-Abigail Parker, http://ahaikueachday.wordpress.com
Thanks Abigail! Good Haiku contribution – thanks for joining in:)