By Teresa Williams
What if rebirth is like stepping into a room, something ordinary, then Surprise! Giant crimson tree, temple of hexagons, a magic cup of moon-tea. Rebirth. Incited by luminescence, light chaser, Isis. Through layers of ancient skin you came from black to red to breathing center. Now here, you are the shimmering one the one who ripples and shines glittering the air, gold and bright. You shooting star of a songbird light. Once again, feel your freshly found face flooding the room with new freedom, star nectar, white queen, gleaming. And again, savor this renewal this taste of dawn as you swallow death's end, from bitter and night, bitter then sweet holy crescent, oracle of brilliance you stepping into a new room.
Nacer de nuevo (To Be Reborn) by Remedios Varo,
oil on Masonite, 1960, 31 7/8 x 18 1/2 in. From
The Magic of Remedios Varo by Luis-Martin Lozano.
Translated by Elizabeth Goldson Nicholson and
Liliana Valenzuela.
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About Teresa: Teresa Williams is a psychotherapist, poet and translator in Seattle, Washington. She has been writing and trying to live poetry for as long as she can remember. Her love for travel and the Spanish language has called her into translation work. She is also an active member of Grupo Cervantes, a bilingual writer’s group and literary community in Seattle.
Teresa’s poetry has been featured at births, weddings, funerals and several talent shows held by the closest of friends. Her first piece on red Ravine, Sound Falling From One World Into Another, was published in August 2010 and featured the poems: Swans, Two Coyotes at Dawn, and Tarot. It was followed by The Devil’s Bridge, a poem that speaks to the legends and mythology surrounding bridges throughout the British Isles, Scandinavia, and continental Europe. Her last piece for red Ravine featured the poem Tortoise Highway.
Beautiful. Reading this has lifted my spirit.
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It triggers me to realize how much more often I am aware of the darkness of death looming than of that brilliance of rebirth that follows. And that I am often in doubt that it will come and that it will be brilliant enough to make up for the suffering that was experienced during the death process. Thanks for the reminder and the fuel for contemplation.
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Teresa, thank you for being a guest on red Ravine. A few of my fave lines:
Rebirth.
Incited by luminescence, light chaser, Isis.
Through layers of ancient skin you came
from black to red to breathing center.
The concept of renewal, rebirth, the chance to start over always gives me hope.
How did you come to the work of Remedios Varo? I had not heard of her until you submitted your poem. Then I did a little research and found some good links. One link is to a timeline of her life: Chronology of Remedios Varo (LINK).
She was a woman way ahead of her time. Below are a few of the years when she especially dynamic. I like that she hung around with writers and artists, too.
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1935-36-Frequents the “Logicophobiste” group. Participates in a group exhibition sponsored by ADLAN (Amics de L’Art Nou), a small organization founded in Barcelona for encouraging vanguard movements in literature and the arts. Exhibition of drawings (with José Luis Florit) in Madrid. In Barcelona meets the Spanish surrealist Oscar Domínguez. Meets the French Surrealist poet Benjamon Péret through Domínguez in Barcelona.
1937-Accompanies Péret to Paris. Meets Miró, Max Ernst, Victor Brauner, Wolfgang Paalen, André Breton and Leonora Carrington. Participates in several Surrealist activities. Participates in the International Surrealist Exhibit in Tokyo. The French Surrealist periodical Minotaur publishes her work “Desire.”
1958-Participates in the First Salon of Women’s Art at the Galerías Excelsior of Mexico, together with Leonora Carrington, Alice Rahon, Bridget Tichenor, and other women painters. Receives 3,000-peso first prize for her paintings Harmony and Be Brief.
Keeps studying mysticism. Reads texts of alchemy, sacred geometry, the I Ching. Explores the ideas of Jung, Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Blavatsky, Meister Eckhart, the Sufis, and the legends of the Holy Grail.
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Kathy – happy to have lifted your spirit. Sometimes when I forget about this feeling, reading this poem and looking at the painting (which I have posted above my computer) definately helps.
Andrea – Yes, it seems many of us (myself included) are more attuned to the anguish in life, the darkness and forget that with death, at least psychological or symbolic death, there is this other side to it. I don’t know if the rebirth experience completely makes up for the suffering, but at least it gives some significance to it and a reprieve at the very least.
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QuionMonkey,
I came across Remedios Varo in one of my spanish classes. I’ve been studying the spanish language for years now and one of the books I was reading had a section on her and her work. Her interest in Carl Jung, dreams, Gurdjieff, mysticism and surrealism and her bohemian lifestyle in Paris and Mexico City during the 30s and 40s appealed to my romantic idealist sensibilities. I also loved that she focused on feminine themes; although many of her ideas are deeply philosophical, scientific and universal. I managed to see one of her exhibits in Mexico City a few years ago. I was surprised by the size of most of her paintings….they are very tiny and almost fragile looking. I have all the books written about her and usually write a 3-4 poems a year based on her work. Maybe I will put something together one of these days into a cohesive body of work to honor her. Definately one of my Muses!
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Remedios Varo is a wonderful muse to have. Thanks for introducing me to her and her work. The 1930s was an amazing period for the Arts all over the world. If I could go back in time, that would be one of the periods I would want to revisit. You bring up a great point about viewing an artist’s or photographer’s work in a gallery as opposed to in books, magazines, or on on the Internet where you can blow them up. I felt the same way when I went to see the work of Diane Arbus at the Walker in Minneapolis. And I saw Georgia O’Keeffe’s work in Chicago in the 1980’s and felt the same way. It was so much smaller than I had imagined. Doesn’t it change the experience completely? Much more intimate. I remember driving all the way to Chicago just to see Georgia’s work. Back then she was really big in feminist circles. A lot of what used to be feminist in nature has become mainstream. And thank goodness for that. It’s a result of all of the feminist movements over the years that things have changed for women. Not quite there yet. But so much better.
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Teresita,
A lovely poem! Thanks for sharing it, and the painting, and the artist…
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Tom,
Thanks for reading….my pleasure.
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Teresa,
You know the saying ‘Every picture tells a story’? Well, I believe that , ‘Every surreal picture is a poem’ and your poetic words compliment the picture beautifully. I love the hint of inner dawning, going from black to red to gold… to ‘star nectar, white queen, gleaming’ – a reality that transcends what can be seen and is always just on the tip of my tongue… Thank you for bringing me that little bit closer to it 🙂
PS I’m still fascinated with Remedios Varo since you first introduced me to her, again, thank you.
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Annie,
Thank you. Yes, it would be difficult to write prose to a surreal picture, especially to Remedios’ paintings, they really do call for a poetic response. A lot of her paintings came from dreams…I wish my dreams were more like her paintings, maybe if I study them long enough they will have that effect.
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I really, really love this! I’ve been back to read it three times & counting! Lovely words, Teresa! Thank -you!
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alittlediddy,
I am really really happy that you find something in it to bring you back so many times. I am curious, do you know what it is? theme? words? something happening in your own life? Feel free to say more if you so chose.
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Teresa, I also want to thank you for introducing to me the artist and philosopher Remedios Varo. I can understand why she appealed to you. That time, that place–ah, it is romantic, is it not? And one thing I’ve always loved about Mexico, machista as it might seem, is that the culture is matriarchal. Women do rule the roost in Mexico.
Rebirth. It is a powerful notion. The idea that we might shed old ways, old skins and sins. And not just a notion but a reality. Here is to my rebirth, when I awake in morning.
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Good to hear from you Roma. This is what I love about Red Ravine, learning about new writers and artists, helping each other find new sources of inspiration. It is an interesting tension between the worship of the mother and the machismo attitudes that permeate the culture, isn’t it? I love Mexico, but the longer my relationship with the country and the “ideas” of it that I hold, the more I am able to moderate my romantic tendencies with reality. I guess that’s what any long-term relationship does….we can see the beauty and the ugly a little more clearly.
Here’s to Rebirth, in small moments of it and in the larger life passages.
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