Sunday, December 13, 2015

A Poem for Deta Galloway


Last night I attended a great holiday party hosted by the poet and artist Deta Galloway. This was the first time I was able to see her work, which was on display all throughout her home and dubbed the "Season of Light" series of paintings.


I was asked to read a poem or two. I ended up doing a variation of my Stone Soup Croutons series and the writing  prompt I used at the Stone Soup workshop a while back. I started writing a haiku-like stanza based on the painting below and just went from painting to painting looking for something to strike me, all while listening to the poems being read by the open mic poets before me. It was rushed, but I got something reading in time for my turn (after one or two people went ahead of me).



Light Shows

Too many moons
to document inside
hand-carried canvas.

When Black Friday comes
I'm buying all the glitter
that won't be cheaper.

Artificial light
tries to convince us that
all matter matters.

All this red sparkle
proves that nothing is enough
to count the bullets.

The stars only try
to mark each and every word
that goes unsaid.

Illumination
travels too fast
to explain properly.

A million poets
strive to translate
St. Theresa's ecstasy.

Handless moon
sees unpicked poems
in this loose tapestry.





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