The last few days have been pretty hairy for me so this one seems like an appropriately timely choice. Kind of a little southwestern US region / Arizona / New Mexico vibe going on here, with something reminiscent of a mutated I Ching hexagram in the center.
Drawn on Valentine’s Day 2013. Any connection to the alleged holiday of Feb 14 is purely synchronistic in nature.
new element
subatomic love particle
cosmic elucidator
translucent crucifix
transfixion illuminator.
so many years
broken and torn
now I am ripe
now I am born.
purple firestorm
eat me up
burn me down
into the ground
reduce me black
in ash and dirt
return me back
from where I came
and make me solid again
in flame.
celestial impact
alien object
born of the stars
smashing to earth
easing my mind.
another ex-girlfriend I never had
not even a memory
only a name
another blank page
in another empty book.
bursting open
electric butterfly
fly while you can
before the cage
swallows you
up again.
desperation
I grasp I plead I
try to convince.
I need to
present my
evidence.
door slammed shut on
memories of fear
I ran far away but
escape came too late
for the child.
I hAvEN’T posTEd ANY of mY owN ArT hErE oN ThE
blog IN AlmosT Two YEArs. I AlwAYs fINd mYsElf wANTINg To wrITE
somEThINg To go wITh ThE ArT buT gENErAllY doN’T kNow whAT
To sAY, so ThEN I ENd up NoT posTINg ANY ArT AT All. I doN’T kNow If
ThE words ArE EvEN NEcEssArY ANYwAY. MAYbE I’m
TrYINg To usE words To jusTIfY ThE ImAgE. MAYbE mY
nEEd to provIdE A vErbAl EXplANATIoN of A pIcTurE cAllEd
“ANXIETY” Is drIvEN bY ANXIETY.
a liquid black cloud spreads its fingers across the family sky like ink from a squid filling an aquarium tank blotting out the sun turning everyone and everything the color of a funeral shadow blue. a virus infects the family tree twisting the future obscuring the past spreading from generation to generation feeding on the children turning the adults into monsters or rendering them mute. a parasite enters the family bloodstream burrowing into hearts and minds anchoring in tender bodies protecting and propagating itself with a trance forget forget forget. I will not forget and I will not pass these nightmares on to anyone else. I'll pull those black fingers down out of my sky I'll dig this virus out of my roots I'll burn this parasite out of my blood. I'll hunt down every last trace of this psychic infection this evil rot that was injected into me when I was a child and I'll haul it out into the daylight where it can't survive. I'll scream it out I'll vomit it out I'll drag it out of me any way I can tooth and claw root and branch blood and bone until I've purged it from my life and cleansed myself completely. I reject the conspiracy of amnesia and silence that allows this systemic scourge to thrive unchallenged in secret in dark and helpless places I reject the family commandments thou shalt not remember thou shalt not feel thou shalt not tell I will remember I will feel I will tell I'll take back my life from this shadow blue plague and if that makes me an outcast a traitor in the eyes of the family then so be it.
About the artwork:
The art that accompanies this poem is a mixed media painting called “Virus” by the very talented Canadian artist Staci Poirier. Staci created her painting as a both a response and a companion to my poem. You can read more about Staci here and see more of her artwork here.
Painting and poem were featured earlier this year on the Good Men Project website with a “zoom page” for the painting where you can view larger images of various sections to see some of the marvelous detail.
The artwork and poem also appeared together in the Fall 2012 issue of the Jungian journal Depth Insights, which featured Staci’s painting on the cover and includes some additional background from her about materials used to create the art as well as some of her thoughts on the themes that are being expressed.
Depth Insights is also available as a free PDF with painting and poem presented side by side on page 8.
It’s been a great pleasure to be a part of this poetry-and-art collaboration, and I’ve been very happy to see my poem and Staci’s art presented together in multiple places in such an elegant fashion.
