Workshop 2016

Like the new day begins
even before dawn,
before daylight breaks
and the day descends
into clarity

Act of creation
carried out
during the rain,
in the evening,
all day long

Incisive
Bands of blue and grey and bright
Every step of the way

Still life of a shoe
and of its wearer –
portrait of the artist
as a tramp

‘Here’s looking at you, kid’

Art and artist
engrossed in one another
the way love arises
even against empty walls –
like dandelions
through asphalt

From monochrome beginnings
of wet clay and overcast skies,
a happy sprinkling of colour –
scattered drops of sunshine
on the forest floor

I always wait
until I hear your footsteps
by the door –
that’s when I
set the tender table

Well, I guess
it’s just
what you call
love

No matter when
or where –
no place
in this archive
is beyond my reach
I can find
anything,
everything

One
plus one
makes more
than two
Two brains
together
go beyond
mere maths

Tread gently,
I feel every step
you walk
upon me

Shavings on the floor
Fibres and filaments
Apple peels
I am ready now

Just that moment
when the sun breaks through
and the circle is completed
and the polish is perfected
and the world is one

‘There’s no room at my head,
There’s no room at my feet;
There’s no room at my side, Margret,
My coffin’s made so meet’

‘Then up and crew the red, red cock,
And up then crew the gray:
Tis time, tis time, my dear Margret,
That you were going away’

(Child 77A: Sweet William’s Ghost)

All the stories
we have told
still linger on our lips

My favourite dish –
lobster soup,
homemade Caesar salad,
New Orleans gumbo,
oh, but Cullen skink!

A colouring book
in three dimensions –
grab your crayons
and knock yourself out

I have not forgotten!

Walking down
a street in Rome
I suddenly recall
how we raced
up the hill back home,
how you always
made me laugh

Language begins
in black and white –
dark and light,
dun and bright –
the primal generations,
before colour comes
into words –
red, green, yellow, blue

‘Óðinn gave the humans
breath and spirit,
Hænir gave them
mind and inspiration
Lóðurr gave them
blood and good colour’

They have freckles –
those fresh cheeks
and happy smiles
of the little cousins
chatting away,
while the adults
remain so boringly
adult

The ear that listens
You may think
the shelves are silent,
and that they may be –
but they all have ears

Wizards?
Maybe
Artists?
Probably
Craftsmen
Definitely
Just the potter family