Some People Call Me Mad
View of Toledo, by El Greco, c.1596-1600, Spain
I’m working in my darkened room,
where highlights painted with lead white
stand out in this, my chosen gloom.
In starkest contrast with the night,
white makes its eerie, chalky gildings
in my midnight work’s design.
At will, I place Toledo buildings
till I surrender . . . light’s no longer mine.
My sky is frenzied and I feel
a part of God with his great power
to curse or bless, to raze or heal
each temple, mosque, and steeple tower.
Barbara Lydecker Crane has won the Kim Bridgford Memorial Sonnet Crown
Contest, the Helen Schaible Sonnet Contest, and was a Finalist for the
Rattle Poetry Prize. Her most recent book is You Will Remember Me
(Able Muse Press); Kelsay Books will soon publish her fifth
collection, Art & Soul.
Amethyst Review 