WAVES (2004)

I

I roll away from the warmth of your curve,
cleaned by the salt air,
to where the tapering arc of the island’s southern tip
is split by a narrow channel. Where
line after line of waves charge from opposite tides
and clash - spew shouts of white, vertical
in the morning sun.

II

Pebbles like goose-bumps
sweat and shine as

the sequinned sea billows,
is gently lifted

in late afternoon, unzipped
by unseen fingers

falling on the shore
petticoat white

gasps tumbling over
into the air

that plays with my ear.

III

We walk towards the village
through olive groves and amber waves
of irregular wheat fields that lay
half-filled with wildflowers
hissing in the southerly.

And I am reminded of a sound
smiling and fragrant -

my grandmother pouring sugar,
before breaking eggs.

IV

A cold front over the island
conjures restless shadows
in the swollen, blue-black tide
that thwacks and snaps
monumental questions
against the unmoved dock;
where we stand -
our fingers braided
like hemp rope
at midnight in moonlight.

V

From this height there are no waves.

Just flat blue, carefully painted
into the tan curve of the bays
bleeding emerald and silt-yellow,
intermittently flashing
white like fire-flies.

But I understand the illusion;
Know there are waves down there
that have always been there,
since that first tide came
silently pulling our blood
backward and forward.

(mike smith 2004)

Poetry and Painting.

similarities and differences between painting and poetry -

a link to the art we are attracted to - its subject, form, rhythm, color, level of abstraction - and the poetry that resonates for each of us?

The art that has hung in my room for a few years must satisfy something deep:
Matisse- The King’s Sadness / Dutreleau - Wave / Giacometti - Man Walking

Matisse -
Astonishing force and magnetism. His postivism, lack of alienation, inventivness. His use of strong colours. Mosaic/collage. His balance of realism and abstraction. His musicality.
Simplicity: geometric without being cold; A down-to-earth decadence and pleasure.

works of Matisse I love.

Dutreleau -
Controlled but strong emotion of his work, rich color, powerful deep blue seascapes, deep stillness. Balance between realism and abstraction.

Giacometti -
Simplicity and deep determination and dignity of his figures. Man Walking: The subject - the action of walking... stark but vitally human...as if this is the only thing at the core of our existence: To keep walking, to move foward.

how do the elements of these paintings - perhaps their common tilt towards realism/abstraction, the singular/solitary, simplicity, movement, strong color -
connect with the poetry I read and write?

POEM

Blue Eyes

You know that blue

The one

In crowded June skies

Through holes: whisper-edged

And brilliant

Like a flash from an old box camera

That blue some call Eggshell.

It was that kind of blue

Hard and vulnerable as eggshells

Cracked me

Across the counter

When she glanced up

Over her coffee

And slow-blinked.

(mike smith 2004)