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Though we journey to the West We pray to the East More or less that's the way Each day begins and ends It’s a tale everyone ...

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Poem for Marissa


This is a poem I wrote tonight for Marissa while looking at a copy of painting #30 (which is my current reigning favorite) from her upcoming exhibit.  A copy of the painting is included as a reward for those of you who manage to read through to the end of the poem.


Poem for Marissa

What could possibly 
Be the portent 
Of such a present tense
And exquisite 
Delicacy of touch
Showing the least fillip of life
Whether laid out in the shade
Or broad daylight
As if outwitting 
Photoshop itself 
As to both accuracy 
And verisimilitude 
Yet also framed abstractly 
In perfect equipoise 
As to both color and light

As if somehow 
Carrying daylight’s cross 
Each of the 36 steps along the way
Descending to the next rung 
Of the ladder from here to Eternity 
And back again or else in the present case 
Making an ecstatic leap off the page 
Into the very midst of my arms
To sit with me here in the living room
Tonight right now -- or wherever you happen to be 
Dancing with the Bolshoi or singing at the Met
Not just come hither but summoning me now!



2 comments:

  1. Joe this is so exquisite (love your iterations of the tiny word "as" which is really the essence of all poetry anyway). Especially the ending, sehr romantisch! And doesn't the painting itself gorgeously resemble Maya Plisetskaya mode-jétée?? Love Andrea

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