Have you ever looked into a portrait?
And were drawn into it by their eyes;
eyes that seemingly pulled at you.
Eyes that you could swear were trying to tell you a secret.
Deep dark pools surrounded by white sand.
Pulling you deeper, seducing you.
The longer you look into those eyes,
the more you are transfixed.
Consumed.
Urging you to go inside;
releasing thoughts and emotions,
transmitting a soft radiance of unknown consequences.
Your minds eye begins to visualize an illuminated pool.
reflections of light ripple across its surface
Unsure of what waits beneath the surface your thoughts and emotions spiral.
Spiraling out of control;
you are captivated,
unaware of anything else around you..
Like a dark cave where the light from the mouth reflects off the walls.
Notice a fleeting feeling of both beauty and sorrow
Overcome with emotion like sinking under water.
Pulling you deeper and deeper in and under
You realize you have become emotionally torn by those pools,
What’s it like reflecting on past and current feelings?
Memories begin to creep forward from hidden corners of your mind
You are struck by passing disappointments, heartbreaks, pain, loneliness;
or sorrows thought long forgotten.
Imagine you are being pulled deeper into those dark pools
Are they playing with your mind at their will, or is it yours?
Stillness, overwhelming, desolation and control.
Like black stones collecting at the bottom of a pond
Lying still until disturbed by thought and emotion
No beginning and no end.
You are a marionette with no control of their own strings.
Not entering where you please.
Not leaving when you wish.
You must be careful of drowning in that black void of emotion,
Unsure of where to go or feel
Zapped of all energy
It would be simple to just let go
Much easier to let go
So much less painful to let go
To just fall and be consumed whole by those dark pools.
Fighting against the temptation and the chaos
Struggling for control
Consciously you find yourself needing to focus
Yet still at the mercy of the mysterious magnetic pull.
Your will tickles at the edge of the cliff, slowly pulling yourself together.
Lighter, diluted, slightly dizzy
Heart beating fast, but steady
Your mind is spinning in a circle, thoughts are floundering
Your mind is drifting
Like a ship without an anchor
Needing a foothold
You begin to pull out of those dark pools leaving those sorrows behind.
and you imagine that a single black stone could hold all those sorrows;
containing them in its confines.
Then letting that black stone fall into those pools
and settle at the bottom.
Gaining control of lost thoughts and emotions
the sense of relief, light and free.
Calm, peaceful.
The ripples dissipate slowly
Stretching out with time
And the pool once again becomes still and motionless
You take a deep breath and feel the relief spread.
Remembering the feeling of pulling away from those dark pools,
one can truly appreciate what has been captured in that portrait.