Greetings! Happy April. If you didn’t know, this is Poetry Month. I suggest we visit a few poetry websites today, such as The Poetry Foundation. Or pick up a book of poetry. One of my favorite poets is W. S. Merwin. A few years ago, I sent subscribers a blog with my three favorite poems, one of them his. Read here.
Paintings and Poetry
For me, often paintings and poetry go together. Today’s featured photo is a portion of Botticelli’s, “The Graces,” one of my loves. The muses show their joy, it’s springtime and new life surrounds them. Gracefulness flows in and around the forest where they dance. They are lovely, yes? In 2003, Hoyt and I had the breathtaking experience of seeing the original in Florence, Italy. I was truly overwhelmed.
Dancing and movement have always been a part of my life—ballet, gymnastics, track events, swimming. That theme appears in my poetry. So …
A gift of my own poetry
Now, I hope you enjoy the following poem of mine from my latest book, From the Porch to the Page: A Guidebook for the Writing Life.
In Magnification
For Wiggles, a Siamese fighting fish we loved
You swirl and twist in liquid dance
blue and red trails floating,
how fast you flutter and quiver
those fins, with every nerve attuned,
you peer, blink-less through the glass.
We study one another
through the clear curved wall,
one of us with bigger brains, the other
full of grace but timid, while all the room
shifts through a water lens
and cool refracted light.
I tap against the vase
a sound like tin cans crashing?
In your hydrodynamic life is that sound
louder than it seems?
You shrink back, motor fiercely away
to bounce into the other side. Believe me,
we are more alike than not.
___END___
Thanks for reading!
Your writer on the wing,
Charlene
Kathleen Brandt
Love the images in the Wiggles poem!
Charlene
Sure loved that little critter!