POTRAIT OF THE BOLD CAPTAIN

The Portrait of the Bold Captain, by Deborah L. Davitt, artwork by Karolína Wellartová

 

 

Every portrait is a lesson
in what the portrayed
wishes you to see

take this one hanging here,
the bold and doughty captain
his falcon on his shoulder,
a sword at one hip,
a book hanging from a baldric
at the other

how firm his grasp
upon his rolled-up map
how keen his gaze
upon the horizon
how stern his stance
upon the stones of the quay

That’s what he wants you to see
but there are little things
the artist did
to call it all into question

the falcon wears no hood, it’s true
but rather a jeweled collar
which no bird would ever tolerate
the bird’s a fiction, the art cries out—
the map is rumpled from the pressure of his hand
his proud blue coat? It shows no wear;
and the jewels upon his right hand
show more care than for his sword.

This proud captain, lord of all he surveys,
wants you to think him stern and bold—
the artist wants you to reconsider
signing on with the crew inside his hold.

________________________________________

Deborah L. Davitt was raised in Nevada, but currently lives in Houston, Texas with her husband and son. Her prize-winning poetry has appeared in over fifty journals, including F&SF and Asimov’s. Her award-winning prose has appeared in venues such as Analog and Lightspeed. For more about her work, including her poetry collections, The Gates of Never and Bounded by Eternity, and her chapbook, From Voyages Unending, please see www.edda-earth.com. 

 

Karolína Wellartová is a Czech artist, painter creating images predominantly with the wildlife themes, nature studies and the literary characters. She’s mostly inspired by the curious shapes and a materials from the nature, but the main source still comes from literature.

From a young age she tried to express herself and her observations on paper.  Painting and drawing were always the most important thing for her and visiting the local art school helped her understand the new techniques and the science of the colour mediums. She’s the award winning artist for “Best Book Cover in 2015” in Czechia. 

Her work has been published in American magazines such as Spirituality Health Magazine, International Wolf, Metaphorosis, Orion, and Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.  Check out more of her work at her website.