Friday, October 23, 2020

ArtSpeak: RED poem "Night Swimming," with thanks to Richard Jones

 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


Poems find me
in the sigh

between red sky
and blue tide—

words swell,
                     dart—

a gleam
of quicksilver dreams

teeming inside
my heart.

- Irene Latham

16 comments:

  1. Lovely painting. Lovely poem. Lovely red.

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  2. Perfect 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!

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  3. I'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!

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  4. I 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. :)

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  5. I 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.

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  6. Swimming in words -- LOVE. Gorgeous art + perfect poem. Looking forward to more of your poetry inspired by Richard's art.

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  7. Lovely! Thanks for sharing Richard's art with us. xo

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  8. The idea of night swimming in words is lovely!

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  9. "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.

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  10. Love the "sigh between red sky and blue tide." Thanks for introducing me to Richard Jones and his red and yellow sky.

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  11. Love this so much. Johanna is visiting me on my blog.

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  12. I 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

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  13. Oh how I love this:
    "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...

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  14. 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.
    https://open.spotify.com/track/6G0NzOx2jEPFsSmhr9N8Ys?si=062zsQAsQb2wcdim7zVyhg

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  15. This is stunning, Irene! Those "quicksilver dreams/teeming inside my heart." Swoon.

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Your thoughts?