The mime artist confronts me,
lithe and contorting,
nuancing as best she can
with her eyes.
Masked and distanced,
her gestures rage out loud
and proud,
yet I do not understand,
I can’t even take her hand
to console, to reassure;
so now she’s rubbing her eyes
with feigned clenched fists
but the sorrow doesn’t translate;
such sobbing falls on deaf ears,
yet it screams to my soul:
She’s in her world, I’m in mine,
dimensions apart,
both of us born again infants
deprived of facial cues.
Copyright Francis Barker 2020
*dVerse: Let your words ring out. I taken a ‘left field’ approach.
The Elloe Recorder 
This poem together with that image truly leave me wondering if we truly can follow the desperation of people…
nuancing with her eyes behind a mask…
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Thank you
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Covering the face is the equivalent of chopping off its tail and ears for a dog. We become mute, inhuman. And some women fight for the right to dehumanise themselves? Madness.
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Thank you for your comment 🙏🏻
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Such a striking image you’ve chosen for this Francis – for not only masked but wounded and at a ‘safe’ distance. It’s not just the mask that keeps us apart – and like infants we need to find new ways of understanding and reaching out to each other. Powerful stuff – thanks for sharing.
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Thank you 🙏🏻
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I really like how you’ve managed to make the silence of the mime scream so loudly. It captures the state of the world so well. Thank you.
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Thank you!
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Those clear plastic masks look so dorky, I settle for the black mask. That photo could be a prompt for a hundred poems; so striking. I applaud your message, this distancing, and lack of touch and discourse is maddening.
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My goodness this is potent!
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ouch a sad and powerful indictment on our current situation but also alluding to the complexity of relationships! We often have masks …
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The pairing of image and poem is amazingly effective, Francis. Not only have you voiced the silent scream, you have given words to the silent women forced to cover their faces and dehumanise themselves, and you have commented on our pandemic world. The phrases ‘nuancing as best she can with her eyes’ and ‘her gestures rage out loud and proud’ say so much.
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Thanks you Kim, I appreciate it
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You capture the barriers beautifully, as well as the frustration, pain, rawness of the situation. Powerful lines.
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