This was what was being offered, and how to deal with it
Finding inspiration in art and the spoken word
after Ann Holsberry’s Outten Visiting Artist Lecture, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1.19.251
Thirteen days ago, it snowed. We had forgotten what it was like, suspended matter stopping the ordinary. The thing you thought was an accident was a galaxy. Navigation lines. Ocean of light. Letting the sun come out.
Now the artist is drawing trees.
She doesn’t apologize for silence. Through the door, you see the painting on the wall is not constellations, but the flight patterns of birds. It’s become like an exploration. Bones. Duck wings. Rocks. Chance.
We live in a house. The roof is the sea.
Note: I urge you to view Ann Holsberry’s stunning, nature-based artwork, both at her website and in the Maier Museum of Art’s online catalogue.
If you’ve been here a while, you know I’m a fan of found poetry. This is my first time finding a poem in speech. It feels kind of like living poetry—at least the experience of jotting down words and phrases as Holsberry spoke them felt very active, very alive.
More from me on found poetry here:
Found II
So I’m a fan of found poetry, which you already may have gathered from this post (bookstores!), or maybe this one (cento!). The alchemy of already-written meaning with fresh perspective always surprises me; the newness it turns into becomes more than the sum of its parts.
I notice the date I wrote this. What happened in America the following day. The way some of the lines in this poem feel like looking beyond and finding hope there, wherever we’re going.
I remember when you wrote this, too, and shared it with me. I agree that it is a reminder of the hopefulness of beauty.
Beautiful Love the 'found poetry' art and need to try it, play with it and be open to what it has to show me. Thank you for posting the picture. Sending big hugs.