Two circle poems performed the SITI Company Salo(o)n January 22, 2015. The first “Animals in Translation: A List of Fears” and the second “Third Year Anniversary.”
Beautiful Capitol Hill street art
September 30-30 #1: In Search of Night Terrors
This is an unedited poem from a 30-30 month in which I attempted to write 30 poems in 30 days.
Look in the construction site down the block. Wade out into the large, dirty puddle of the outpoured foundation and say hello to the creatures you find there.
Look in the sky, blue and open, light streaming all around you. Wonder at the ground as it hurtles towards you.
Look in your kitchen, empty shelves and rusty knives. The floor is wet, but it’s the corners you’ve really got to watch out for.
Look in the forest, dark and cozy. All around you’s the way, but there is no out.
Look on the mountain, up where the trees are gone and the rocks are loose. Mind the steep and don’t trust your tread.
Look in the ocean, right there on the surface. Currents pull out, waves push down, and arms… give… out
Look in your body, filthy, ugly home. If you were alone in there it might just be livable.
Shira is the Bomb, A Quote
Whoever said that being an artist would be easy? That it would be void of doubt and self-bludgeoning? Whatever gave us the idea that a wild parrot named Inspiration would float to our tree’s branches every now and again and we could figure out for what reason it had arrived? Who ever told us that the tree was not ours to plant, and that it belonged to that overlord, Talent? That tree called Hard Work? Where a hundred thousand flocks of parrots might come in a bright descent if we took the time to plant, water, and nurture? What made us believe this name tag (“Artist”) was the very same thing as the flesh and blood that makes the art? That it was enough to tumult and grieve and burn. Make the art. What reason do you need but the simple math of it: Make and it will be made. There is no other way.