Who are you?

Posted on By adcitlali

© Adriana Citlali Ramírez 2008
© Adriana Citlali Ramírez 2008

I saw you in the front cover of a magazine  
and wondered who you are    

Your photographer’s name is mentioned  
in an article signed with its author’s name    
         Your  photo  is   there
           the camera’s brand
             the lens
             aperture
           light conditions
               all is clearly detailed

You  remain  nameless
                       unmentioned
                       anonymous
    &       yet  so  intriguing

                 Who are you?
                  Why do you cover your mouth?
                                         What do you hide?

Your eyes have a secret
                    obvious & vague

I decide to forget you
I do          somehow
                 weeks
                 maybe months

Until I see you again
in that empty land
walking without hesitation
with a sparkle in your eyes
           You are not scared
           maybe concerned or simply happy

Your hands still cover your mouth
                                Is there a smile behind?
                 A word that won’t be expressed?
                         Are you whispering a wish?
             Is there something in your hands?

You intrigue me
make me wonder
       I have to draw you
            solve the mystery
            by deconstructing a moment frozen in a photo
            extract its contrasts
            place strokes       simple lines
            of carbon   on paper
            black and white

I frame the drawing
place it somewhere in my living room
forget about you

Until I see you again
                 Who are you?
You  remain  nameless
                         Are you whispering a wish?
Your eyes have a secret
You intrigue me
                         I wonder why …


_____Adriana Citlali
XXVIII-II-MMXV
I-III-MMXV



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Comments (16)

  1. ha. sounds like a pretty intriguing picture…and there is certainly a story there..
    reminds me of the many people i come in contact with…ones i make up stories for
    because i dont know theirs yet…they stick with me though…

  2. Such a lovely sketch ~ She is intriguing & surely she has a story to tell, I can imagine ~

    Thanks for sharing ~

  3. Such a fantastic sketch and poem. It is so true how and sitter, subject, focus of interest gets lost in the glory of someone else. Your poem reminds us that it is the unnamed, the misunderstood, and the silent that should be the most unforgettable. Cheers!

  4. Interesting how sometimes an anonymous photo will catch our attention more than others. Your poem made me think of the crying little girl under the napalm attack during the Vietnam war.

  5. I like your sketch and your poem…you captured the kind of feeling a person gets sometime, the kind of feeling that gnaws at a person until they do something with it. And you did something rewarding with it, even though you may never know who the person really is.

  7. I love how the mystery of who it is on the photo is the mystery when everything else seem to be known. Sometimes a picture can be stuck like this, I love that you captured it in a drawing too.

  9. that is a cool drawing – and it makes me curious for her story as well… sometimes people fascinate us and we dunno why exactly…i can understand your wish to find out – to draw her – to understand what it is..

  11. That anonymous image seems benign, which is good since it punctuates our lives. Your poem reminded me of Virginia Woolf saying “Anonymous was a woman.” And then, of course, we get the more maligned nameless. But lets not go there today. Fine fine poem.

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