Poetry and the Visual Arts Show

Here are some quotes suggested by Ms. Kreiter-Fronda:

1.    From:  "Crows over the Fields of Auvers"

        "All morning the sky deepens,

        resuming the unrest below."

2.     From:  "Contrary Visions in the Gallery, White on White"  

        ". . . two mystics vow

        this is not the coming of light

        or white blossoms at the hands of God,

        but a ceremonial stone that brings calm

        to any man, if only he will embrace it."

3.    From:  "Painting Poppies near Arles"

        "It is never easy

        to paint poppies that bloom

        crimson near Arles.  You must wait

        for the moment their color settles

        in the viridine fields."

4.    From:  "Other Possibilities"

        " . . . You can tell

        by the way his eyes shine that he is dreaming,

        small white birds dancing over him, covering

        his shoulders with delicate feathers."

5.    From:  "Lately I Have Been Too Wrapped Up"

        " . . . let the thoughts go until they settle

        on something startling:  this world,

        for example, how it might be

        otherwise if there were no colors . . ."

6.    From: "In the Plaza of America, Seville"

        "The moon turns, air-drunk

        toward pergolas heady

        in the spring heat."

7.    From:  "Spell of Moon and Maple"

        "How is it that the tree,

        worn and alone, reaches

        into the sky and scatters

        October's rubies

        over the graying earth?"

8.    From:  "A Deaf Woman Longs to Be among the Waters"

        ". . . be that heron

        strumming

        the air, a choir

        embroidered in her singing."

9.    From:  "Baiting My Hook, I Try Again"

        " . . . I reel

        in a universe where colors

        prevail, where clouds redden

        with lightning, a tiny ship fighting

        the sea, its bold masts crimson."

10.    From:  "Baiting My Hook, I Try Again"

        "In my mind, I pull a string

        and color the earth for miles

        with mulberry light."

11.    From:  "Art is a Flower that Opens Freely"

        "Go.  Look at the sea where voices

        of the infinite thrive like anemones."

12.    From:  "Beneath Lamplight"

        " . . . Today I labor

        in the field, my reward:  plump

        potatoes resplendent in the soil's

        dark shine."

13.    From:  "You Don't Need Binoculars to Be a Bird Watcher"

        " . . . Start running

        to the lake's edge for a closer view.

        Look into the liquid heart where the blue-

        green pulsates, red beaks sucking, then spew-

        ing out water.  Follow the pelicans' snow-white

        ascent into the flamingos' flight."

14.    From:  "The Old Woman and Colors"

        "Look.  Someone is coloring the air:

        an old woman, the wrinkles

        in her face, a verdant field."

15.     From:  "Transparent Butterfly in Jardin de las Mariposas"

        "Wherever you land, earth turns green,

        wing-color a gift

        Quetzal sheds over you, sheen

        of his feathers

        falling as he lifts

        through a hurrah of leaves."

16.    From:  "The Deserted Beach"

        I marvel at the fullness

        of a beach, deserted,

        disguised as a path that pushes

        eastward, the sandy shore

        cobbled like plumage

        of an elusive caracara."

17.    From:  "Nest Building"

        "The osprey soars through a cerulean sky,

        scumbled with oyster pinks and whites.

        Industrious, he scavenges insect carcasses,

        sticks, seaweed, swells of twine, drops them

        between the branches of a dead pine.

        . . . Lit up like spooned honey,

        he zeros in to land."

18.    From:  "Dragon Run"

        "Knee-deep in the Dragon, I lean in

                    to feel the wilderness.

        The brisk call of dawn splashes

                    against ash and gum.  Sassy

        this liquid sun pursuing a cypress,

                    its roots lifted from the swamp

        like stubby knees."

19.    From:  "On the Studio-Boat"

        "Skysails billowing, the day soaring.

        A violin, the sun arrives, trilling.

        From the studio-boat I can see better:  morning

        rises out of the river's mouth, wine-gold opening."

20.    From:  "These Flecks of Summer"

        "Pink parasols everywhere:

        mountain laurel releases

        confetti at the feet

        of two bickering cardinals

        in a seed flight."

21.    From:  "Red Building in Forest"

        "Down a dirt road in a tangle

        of pines, the windowless

        building rises, awash in scarlet."

22.    From:  "Blood Moon"

        "To see the full moon turn copper,

                drive to the end of a country road

                            to a broad-mouthed bay

        where darkness scatters stars

                like lit-tin

                            across fields."

23.    From:  "By the Bay"

        " . . . To be here

        beyond a peninsula's tip

        and a temple of wind,

        where an inlet's waters

        wash over my feet,

        the Chesapeake misting over

        with the aura of coastlands."

24.    From:  "Testimonial"

        "Vigorous:  this clearing,

        its astral growth, a patch

        of flowers drowning out

        the unruly world."

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