Almanac Poetry: Two Portraits

Woodstock, 1969. [Wikimedia Commons.]
Two Portraits
(for CRL)
We are stardust / We are golden / And we’ve got to get ourselves / Back to the Garden
– Joni Mitchell, ‘Woodstock’
Jesus Christ in the Summer of Love
Gazing directly from the frame,
solemn-serious is your father,
a beautifully groomed, yet hippy Christ
directly from the Summer of Love.
You, chubby baby,
seated on his lap,
reflect his expression,
held in thrall
by a father’s God-like aura.
Earth Mother, White Witch
Nearby, the photo
of you and your mother
is of the same time,
identically posed,
but she is no Christian figure; instead,
an Earth Mother exuding love,
long wavy dark hair, smiling sweetly,
White Witch brimming with happy spells,
summery in calico.
Both yours and Mum’s faces reveal the same thing:
contentment, serenity.
(Acknowledgement: first appeared, in slightly different form, in Kevin Densley’s latest poetry collection, Please Feed the Macaws…I’m Feeling Too Indolent, published by Ginninderra Press, South Australia, 2023.)
Read more from Kevin Densley HERE
Kevin Densley’s latest poetry collection, Please Feed the Macaws…I’m Feeling Too Indolent, is available HERE
Read more Almanac Poetry HERE
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About
Kevin Densley is a graduate of both Deakin University and The University of Melbourne. He has taught writing and literature in numerous Victorian universities and TAFES. He is a poet and writer-in-general. His fifth book-length poetry collection, Please Feed the Macaws ... I'm Feeling Too Indolent, was published in late 2023 by Ginninderra Press. He is also the co-author of ten play collections for young people, as well as a multi Green Room Award nominated play, Last Chance Gas, published by Currency Press. Other writing includes screenplays for educational films.

What with your poems and Joni’s song … lovely memories of Woodstock! Thanks, Kevin. I love the parent portraits – the beautifully groomed Christ and the calico-clad Earth Mother.
Thanks for your comments, Jane. Pleased they resonated with you.
Of course, I meant I was pleased the parent portraits resonated with you.