Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Jama's Alphabet Soup for what's sure to be a delicious Roundup.
I'm taking a break from Monet to spend some time with a modern-day artist Richard Jones, who illustrated THE PROPER WAY TO MEET A HEDGEHOG: And Other How-To Poems. He often posts art on Twitter, and lately some have featured the color red! With his permission, I snagged a few that called to my muse, and I'll be sharing those on coming Fridays.
Today's poem is inspired as much by the name of Richard's piece as the piece itself... I don't know about you, but most of my "night swimming" involves swimming in words... I often wake to record ideas/lines/book fixes in the Notes feature on my phone. So I wrote a poem about it. Enjoy!
Night Swimming
in the sigh
between red sky
and blue tide—
dart—
a gleam
of quicksilver dreams
teeming inside
my heart.
Lovely painting. Lovely poem. Lovely red.
ReplyDeletePerfect combination of words and image. I write down thoughts in the night, too - and sometimes when morning comes, I have no idea what I meant!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you found this artist, Irene. The painting is wonderful, and I love your poem, especially that "teeming inside/my heart". When I read it, it took me back to look again at those fish! Happy Weekend!
ReplyDeleteI love the symbiotic relationship between your poem and this painting, Irene. Yes, I, too, jot things in the night and like Ruth, sometimes cannot make heads or tails of my notes in the morning. Thanks for introducing me to another lovely artist. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think I could love a poem more. This is brilliant. I love the whole idea of a poet's Night Swimming in words. Words that swell, dart, gleam like quicksilver. Oh I love it all. Just a delight and the art. Janet Clare F.
ReplyDeleteSwimming in words -- LOVE. Gorgeous art + perfect poem. Looking forward to more of your poetry inspired by Richard's art.
ReplyDeleteLovely! Thanks for sharing Richard's art with us. xo
ReplyDeleteThe idea of night swimming in words is lovely!
ReplyDelete"a gleam/of quicksilver dreams/teeming inside" The beauty of your words paired with a new painting is just lovely. The title is just write. I look forward to seeing more of Richard Jones' work.
ReplyDeleteLove the "sigh between red sky and blue tide." Thanks for introducing me to Richard Jones and his red and yellow sky.
ReplyDeleteLove this so much. Johanna is visiting me on my blog.
ReplyDeleteI like your "quicksilver dreams." I seem to night swim with words as I find my way to bed in our quiet, calm room… Rich image, thanks Irene! xo
ReplyDeleteOh how I love this:
ReplyDelete"Poems find me
in the sigh
between..."
You filled in the blank one way, but that "sigh between" could be so many different moments in life...
Gor-ge-ous, both art and words. But I can only think of one thing when I hear "Nightswimming"--one of my very favorite R.E.M. songs. I hope you enjoy.
ReplyDeletehttps://open.spotify.com/track/6G0NzOx2jEPFsSmhr9N8Ys?si=062zsQAsQb2wcdim7zVyhg
A beautiful pairing, Irene.
ReplyDeleteThis is stunning, Irene! Those "quicksilver dreams/teeming inside my heart." Swoon.
ReplyDelete