Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Poetry to Art Dialogue

I had a video piece in a group show at the Seymour Gallery a few years ago. Below is a piece that a local poet, James Witwicki, wrote in response to 'Monument for the Land'. 



A woman is piling,
then unpiling, rocks
she has been
unpiling rocks
against the backdrop
of an ugly concrete wall
bristling with reinforcing
steel and barbed wire.

In a vacant field
in a quiet corner
surrounded by yellow wildflowers
vivid yellow on gangly stalks. 

This woman unpiles rocks.
This is not entropy;
you can play it backwards.
But time will march forward,

--- Please --- I must know ----

In a vacant lot,
in a quiet corner, 
in a bitter war-
torn country. Soothing words
in Arabic, soothing words
words in relief - mother to child,
ones who survive, piling rocks
carefully.

Old, gnarled trees preside
over cairns,
monuments left. 

This woman wears
a simple, modest,
earthtone shift. Sometimes
she stumbles slightly
while walking away
from the camera.

Doesn’t mean that she is not sure.
She has been unpiling rocks; and if,
and if unpiling rocks is sufficient,
she will continue ---

No comments:

Post a Comment