Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit dear Ramona at Pleasures from the Page for Roundup.
One of my favorite parts of this past week has been consulting with other poets about their poetry. I come away from these conversations completely inspired and grateful. And y'all, isn't it FUN to dive deep into our words and emotions?! I feel like I have made a bunch of new friends.
Also: the garden is exploding! Here's my first purple coneflower opening. It's been fun to watch it change shape each day.
Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO features one of Picasso's paintings in the primitive style. (I know! Who knew Picasso ever painted in this style?! But yes. Yes he did.) He painted quite a few pieces featuring pigeons, so I knew this year would bring me a few pigeon poems!
Here's "Pigeon Song," from February. And now I offer you the first poem in this series in which I've given Picasso himself a voice.
Other inspirations for this poem include Knocking on Windows by Jeannine Atkins. Jeannine's beautiful, powerful memoir-in-verse will release August 5. (More on this soon...Jeannine will be visiting Live Your Poem soon!)
I copied many passages into my notebook, and I especially fell in love with Jeannine's final poem. It's hard sometimes to know when to get out of a story. How do you say goodbye? So that was definitely on my mind.
Then I read "Future History of Earth's Birds" by Amie Whittemore, which was featured on poets.org poem-a-day earlier this week. In the "About the Poem" section, Amie said this: "I could envision a poem that celebrated the wild wisdom of birds while also mourning their diminishing numbers.” That statement brought to mind this painting, and off I went, in search of words! Thanks so much for reading.
Picasso Speaks of Pigeons
A thousand pigeons
once roosted here—
their cooing lullabied me
into fractured dreams.
For hours I splashed
the canvas with paint,
creating my sums
of destructions.
And now just one
remains—
one soft cooing.
Maybe it means thank you.
Maybe goodbye.
Irene, your new ArtSpeak poem is quite interesting. Picasso had a great deal to say in your poem: "their cooing lullabied me
ReplyDeleteinto fractured dreams." This followed by the word destruction made me pause to wonder and then you added a maybe.
Sounds like you have filled up on food for the spirit! Love that "soft cooing" and the open-ended "thank you" or "goodbye." xo
ReplyDeleteLove the seeming opposites in this poem, the fractures, destruction, along with soft cooing. Xo
ReplyDeleteSo lovely, Irene. Love hearing Picasso's voice in this poem. :)
ReplyDelete"their cooing lullabied me into fractured dreams" - beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI love hearing the voice of Picasso as he praises the pigeon. What an interesting painting that doesn’t look as Picassoic.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful and thoughtful, Irene. Thank you. And, YAY, Jeannine! Can't wait to read her latest masterpiece. xo
ReplyDeleteWho knew Picasso painted pigeons? Leave it to you to introduce us to little known paintings and give voice to Picasso. Thanks for linking to your earlier one which I had missed. Your "off I went, in search of words" is a lovely way to show the writer's journey.
ReplyDeleteOh, this resonates with me so much because of Picasso's tortured history and how animals are, in Whittemore's poem and yours, so exquisitely sensitive to the people and world around them. The lines "creating my sums/ of destruction" stuns because it connects me both to Cubism and his personal struggles. Wow!
ReplyDeleteYour poem is full of competing images, as was Picasso!
ReplyDeleteWhat a powerful ending, Irene. Beautiful.
ReplyDelete