I
seagulls and the smell of fish
the earth smolders and smokes
there is a fine line between solitude and loneliness
I like to walk that line
pink syrup flowing over rock
the wheat field consumed the trees
sandwich of bodies
II
nothing’s stable, everything shifts
I fly through the clouds
down below a brown landscape
where am I going?
helpless helpless helpless
i see wild stallions galloping
mountains can look like horses, can’t they
I climbed all this way and now cannot find the valley
tree figures run away
froth on chocolate milk
shadows of Stonehenge fall across the snow
III
pieces of cloud fall from sky
I think of traveling, being places where I don’t come from
soft edges on formerly rugged rock
salty lips, the waves pushing me back to the shore
IV
in my memory I see the waves
the colors pink and blue, like a gentle sunset in summer
black rock on a craggy coast
the sea rushed over the village
I think of strangers, and how much I am like them
there were children crying and colors flying
V
my slopes are cooling down
land melting thinning, what’s beyond
I think of the ocean, which I love and fear both
where the clouds meet the land
setting sunlight captured in liquid love
my edges are hotter than my center
papers fall from Heaven unnoticed
I see nothing for miles, I feel empty inside
some days I go back to the beach
I am flying apart
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These poems came out of an exercise suggested by red Ravine guest writer Judith Ford, and modified from an event she attended and describes in the post lang•widge. Guests at that event, which was held this past March in Bethesda, Maryland, was an “evening of art, jazz and spontaneous poetry, featuring paintings by Freya Grand.”
Freya Grand’s paintings, pictured above, became the inspiration for our own red Ravine “blog happening,” created and curated by Jude:
So here’s an idea: How about trying a little mini da-da poetry writing sans Steven Rogers’ music? Take a look at any of the Freya Grand paintings in this post (or visit her website). Pick out a piece of music you currently like a lot. While the music plays, quickly, without much thought, jot down five (or so) lines or phrases…. Let’s see what we come up with.
Jude received free form lines and phrases from three participants (including myself). She printed them, cut them apart, and scrambled them. Then, she used playing cards to generate the poem, picking a card, choosing that number of lines, then picking randomly from the bunch. Jude took the liberty of creating stanzas as she typed the results. She did a beautiful job.
Thank you, Jude, for sharing this creative fun with us!
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