Art & Poetry

Poems, drawings, paintings, and other evidence.

Poetry & Prose

What makes me prose / perspective / self-sculpture

I have a way of stepping back from what is and walking around it like a sculpture in a museum,

looking from different angles,

feeling the impact,

revering the way stone can be made to look so soft at the hands of the right artist,

and I learn from this artist,

and I take it home to my own studio and use it to sculpt myself and my creations.

A Bad Design poem / objects / engineering with feelings

My heels leak,

With each step, grating, chafing,

Could this be by design?

We've only been together a few days,

Perhaps it is my fault,

Not taking the time to offer support,

Before slamming, stomping into you.

Who would design such a thing?

No one else would want you in this state,

To suggest so feels like a setup, a hoax.

Perhaps a hairdryer and a rigid form,

Maybe some duct tape,

A pair of pliers, some wire cutters,

To surgically remove the parts of you that rub me the wrong way.

To no avail, and now my foolish faith in you has brought me far from home.

Far, and I think I might be bleeding-

I will carry you the rest of the way.

Soon the limp of uneven stilts,

Will send a pang through my hips, a warning.

Socks on searing sidewalks,

Catching on stale gum,

Collecting stories laid by treads,

Left by soles not soaked in scarlet,

The better of your ilk.

For you, I've sacrificed my heels,

My toes harbor liquid cushions,

Feet gone flat,

My balls slowly scorched.

But I still feel for you;

Betrayer.

I know, if it were up to you, you would not have picked this.

You remind me of me.

Brandishing your name as bait,

Luring investments in naive idolatry.

Aspiring beyond clearance rack compromises,

Seduced by a gilded construction,

I championed your promise.

To discard you now

Would be to admit defeat,

To waste not only money,

But value of conviction.

So you'll live in my closet,

Next to the others,

Until I come up with a way to fix you-

Trading band aids for false hope once again-

Or I find the heart to throw you out.

Resolution: Kept the laces for my MacGyver kit, but threw the shoes. I no longer buy Nikes.

The Ocean Listened poem / coast / indifference as comfort

I cried to the ocean today

She listened deeper than I spoke,

and she told me she did not care.

So I asked the birds,

but they were too busy

idling against the ocean breeze

I asked the grasses,

they stopped to listen

and went back to sharing quiet whispers with the trees.

Then I asked the wind,

and she swept up my tears faster than they could fall.

I have never felt more loved.

Finding: Feeling loved, not by being coddled, but by being part of a larger whole.

Urgency poem / current / the quiet

No wonder we're tired.

Designed as a current, but taught like a wire.

Stay drawn, Stay going, One channel, Keep flowing.

Don't blow a fuse, or short a circuit;

But with voltage this strong, it's hard to resurface.

From time to time, now and again,

The wattage will get to us, but a truth will set in;

We're chasing a power we already own

and all that we seek, we've already known.

Take a break from the current, and those who supply it.

I'm amazed what we find, alone in the quiet.

Random line

Press the button and let the page choose a line.

Unauthorized poetry franchise

Build-a-Poem™

0 lines selected

Use the + beside any line you want. Once you have three, arrange them by original order, reverse them, move from the shortest breath to the longest, or introduce a little controlled disturbance.

Arrangement Select at least 3 lines above to choose an arrangement.

Made from Emily's lines, selected and reassembled by you.

Visual Work

These pieces do not all speak in the same medium or volume. They do keep returning to bodies under pressure, shelter, coexistence, observation, decay, play, nature, and the uncomfortable edge of recognition.

A note before looking

I like art that makes me feel something, sometimes reverence or recognition, sometimes unease. If a piece registers before you have words for it, notice where it arrives: jaw, throat, chest, gut, back, hands. You do not have to decide what it means. Noticing is enough.

Intricate black ink drawing combining a skull, snake, mushrooms, leaves, cloth, and jewelry-like forms. — Remains

Graphite portrait with hands covering a face; multiple eyes appear across one palm. — I Still See You

Loose black ink drawing of a partially separated skeleton suspended above a scribbled shadow. — Agony

Painted seated figure sheltered beneath an oversized luminous pink and blue mushroom. — Sheltered

Something stayed with you?

Tell me the line, image, or thought you are taking with you. I would genuinely like to know.

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