Welcome to Poetry Friday. Today it’s hosted by Diane at Random Noodling.
Thanks to Diane, I got connected with a fabulous opportunity to create a response to art at the Spark: Art from Writing: Writing from Art. This was my first foray into this community.
When you sign up, you get to share a piece of art or writing and your partner responds to it. You have ten days to respond.
Tora Estep provided this sketch from her notebook:
When I asked Tora if the sketch had a title, she said no. So I sat with this sketch for awhile as well as asking some of my elementary students what they noticed. Most responded that she seemed mad or sad.
I kept coming back to the book THE LIBRARIAN OF BASRA. And then a thought formed about library books and the burning of them. I settled into writing this tritina:
I Watched
I watched as the flames
stretched upwards in the brittle night
Wondered who would save the books
The ancient, the sacred, the magical, all the books
licked by the flames, devoured by the flames
I watched in the brittle of the night
Laughter and then screams in the brittle night
as the words from the books
melted and died in the flames
Anger became my cloak as the flames grabbed the books in the brittle night
© 2015 Jone Rush MacCulloch all rights reserved
I am looking forward to participating more with Spark. I loved the process.
Happy Friday.
Happy Poetry.
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I’m glad you found the experience satisfying. I’ve enjoyed participating, even when I haven’t been pleased with my results. I hope you are doing well. I posted your link.
What a striking image! I can see the reflection of fire in the face. The form is a challenge. You nailed it. I hope you are resting and recovering well.
I hope the surgery went very well, Jone. So glad that you shared this ahead. I’ve seen Diane talk about it, and it is intriguing. The sketch is compelling, as is your poem, those lovely, but melting and dying words. I still shudder when I hear about books being burned, reading history, or fiction. Thank you, and Merry Christmas!
Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
Your words fit the image perfectly. I see the flames reflected in the face, the tragedy in the eyes.
Impressed by the connection you came up with! Nicely done. Hope you are doing well.
Jone, first of all I hope you are doing well after the surgery. Since I really like the Librarian of Basra as a read aloud, I am thrilled that you wrote an accompanying poem. It is haunting, especially the last line.
I hope you are healing well, Jone. The last two lines of your poem call up amazing images of more than burning books – melting words. Somehow, that specificity multiplies the travesty of the burning of the books. SPARK sounds like an amazing experience. I’ll try to keep my eyes open for the next opportunity.