Hey,
One of the things that I was pleased to find when I discovered this forum was that Poetry & Art are given a place for presentation and discussion. I like that because I perceive that my soul needs the Arts for me to be a good human being because creating art, in any form, and presenting it with the desire to both be seen and to touch the lives of others, is such a gloriously human thing we do. So, please know that I’ve spent several enjoyable hours perusing the Essays and the Art & Poetry listings, reading your works, the works you shared, and your commentaries.
I’m a new guy and probably, like it is for anyone new visiting an ecclessia, there is hesitancy to respond too much beyond politeness, especially if the new guy is perceived as, “coming on a bit strong,” or some of the things the new guy says seem a bit, well, weird…
So, since I’m now a week out from my introduction and my first post (with forty-six look-see’s and no comments. It is a long read, isn’t it?), I thought I’d try something different to help you get to know me better, apart from the smattering of replies I’ve managed to post.
Without any further ado, then, here is one of my poems.
[size=150]Sunday’s Sermon from the Fort Worth Art Exhibition[/size]
[size=150]P[/size]aint, perfectly placed
with the perfected skill
of mind and eye and hand;
portraits that reconsider
our common life,
here on display,
so we’ll pause and understand.
With techniques they trace
to the ancient masters,
they intricately interlace
Color and Line
and Shadow and Space
and Figure and Ground,
with consummate grace.
These fellow humans
who’ve chosen to illumine our souls
with the truths they’ve bound
in imagery gross and graceful,
subtle and seductive,
provocative and profound.
[size=150]A[/size]nd pictures made without paint
are here for us, too;
Science and Art
reaching together
through this unique and new
point of view.
Manipulating light
with innovative machines,
they capture quite eloquently
the identity and whimsy
of animals and people
and all the fantastic places
and all the fantastic things
that compose our shared reality;
exposing for our study,
everything in our sight,
guiding us to glimpse
the brilliance we miss
in our harried, daily flight.
[size=150]A[/size]nd here’s a new expression
I’m very pleased to see -
they use computers
to illustrate accurately
the shape of the Wisdom
in our universe
through the astute eyes
of mathematical realities!
[size=150]N[/size]ow we’re underneath
an ingenious form!
Balanced precariously;
sensitive to this gentle breeze;
delicately dancing—
swaying and turning—
like the sword of Damocles.
A form without function,
yet functioning just the same.
A Mobile,
but, immobile:
what’s revealed in a name?
[size=150]H[/size]ere we pause to contemplate
succulent, sensuous shapes;
solid where they stand;
seducing our eye and hand.
Epigones they’ve bequeathed
with an essence all their own;
tri-dimensional metaphors
drawn from wood and metal
and glass and stone.
[size=150]A[/size]nd here—
through dimensionality
they’ve embodied
the intimacy
in Human Sexuality.
A fleeting moment permanent;
suffused with differing texture;
lovingly diffusive of light;
a Man and Woman embrace—
and a Child,
whose Father and Mother
hold docile,
erotically beguiled.
**-[size=150]A[/size]**nd now,
tired from emotion
and all this walking about,
I squeeze your ever-present hand
as we sit a few minutes out
of the flow of passing people,
whom we watch with keener insight—
trying to get it right…
[size=85]To My Molly Girl
Thanks for the day!
Dennis Martin
April 26-30, 2006[/size]