Popular Posts

Wednesday 11 July 2012

An Experiment

written for Poets United


In the days - not far back - while painting from life
(the subject, of course, one loaded with feeling),
I'd sometimes compose at the back of mind,
a poem that rhymed. The task was to sever
the picture before me from all conscious thought.

The very next day I would study them both,
much as a poacher might study his traps.
Mostly I'd find that the poems were slight,
at times rather silly and trivial things.
Not so the paintings: they'd have the power
to surprise me well, more significant somehow,
than I might have foreseen in my rosiest dream.
From this I concluded that a poem requires
the whole of the mind, that the poet must bring
all the manners of thinking, all his riches to bear.

Not so the paintings, those autonomous things,
left to themselves - they preferred it that way -
they thrived in the knowing they were not observed
when consciousness left them alone. Ignored
by logic, they went out on the town,
free as the birds to manage themselves.

They and the poems strolled out hand-in-hand.
The latter I owned, each one a child,
the paintings were different: untrammelled and wild.
.................................................................
The task this week was to use the two pairs of words: trivial/significant and observe/ignore





13 comments:

Cloudia said...

your poems strolled out, hand in hand;
Like Rilke's words marching,
their wintry cheeks warming
as he puts them in ranks,
purpose.
Poems;
Poets:
Amazing creatures!
(anything in this trap when you look? i wonder....)



Wishing you a pleasant thoughts &
Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral
> < } } ( ° >

Ygraine said...

That is so true!
How many times do you try to paint an image you have in your mind's eye, only to quickly discover that you have no control over it's eventual form at all?
None of mine ever conform to my original idea.
They are seperate entities, I guess!
Really enjoyed reading this :)

Brian Miller said...

smiles...i think poems at times can be rather wild things as well...when we let them off the leash...i agree though...art sometimes has a mind of its own...and i think that is pretty cool...

Jim Murdoch said...

This has an interesting rhythm to is. Unrhymed iambic tetrameters for the most part. I kept expecting rhymes and I see you couldn’t resist one at the end as a final cadence. I read it over several times. It needs a bit of practice to get it right. But it works.

Oak Creek Ranch said...

This was interesting to me. I don't paint and found the comparison between the process of both compelling. Annette at Hoofprintsinmygarden

Tommaso Gervasutti said...

Well, the great Tiziano and Veronese and Tiepolo would agree about the wildness they sprung forth..."untrammeled" really!

Mary said...

Interesting to compare poetry and paintings, Dave....and to find the next day that the poems were trivial and the paintings more significant....and more wild! I enjoyed your poem and thank you for doing 'vice/versa.'

kaykuala said...

Dave,
I find poems more testing but best at pushing the boundaries within our minds. A painting attracts with vivid colors appealing and experimenting with varied types of media oil, water and stuff. Well crafted!

Hank

Lolamouse said...

I enjoyed this comparison, Dave. Perhaps I need to do LESS thinking when I try to paint. Maybe that's why my paintings are such disasters! It couldn't possibly be that I have no talent!

Anonymous said...

So cool. k.

haricot said...

In other words painting appeals directly to man's feelings, and poems need to let gather their feelings which turn into some thoughts?

A Cuban In London said...

And then one day, readers arrived hand in hand and fell into the poacher's trap. Your poems, not paintings, made them stay or return for more and at the end they would clap.

Greetings from London.

Dave King said...

cloudia
Fab' comment - undeserved, but fab'. Much thanks.

Ygraine
Absolutely. 100% of times? Often seems that way. Thanks for the comment.

Brian
I have to agree with your opening statement, though mine do not seem to be to be wild enough often enough. Thanks for.

Jim
Thanks. I think you're being rather kind. I am actually not too pleased with this. Nearly didn't post it. Much thanks.

Annette
Hi, Annette. A warm welcome to you. Thank you for your comment which is much appreciated.

Tommaso
Not sure about Tiepolo, but the other two, yes. I think I see what you can see!

Mary
Good to have your reflections on the post. Many thanks.

Hank
Yes, I agree. I'm sure they come from different areas. I find paintings prefer it when the artist avoids deep thought - about the painting, that is!

Lolamouse
No, it couldn't possibly be that you have no talent! Weall have some (I believe), it's finding the trick to tap into it. We didn't think too deeply as small children and the results were masterpieces!

manicddaily
Thanks. Pleasing that you think so.

haricot
Yes, conscious thought is needed for the poems, can be a distraction when painting.


A Cuban in London
Wonderful, like it, like it! - Of course, it doesn't have to be true to be wonderful!