Keeping Myself Open
Reception
first light’s
one step ahead of me
as i step
into the gentle
outdoors
at 430a
in early june
my predawn footfalls
a backbeat
for sparrows and starlings
already
rockin’ ‘n’ rollin’ the day
open-beaked
full-throated
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Meeting This Grief
4 x 5.5″; acrylic, ink, and oil pastels on canvas paper
abstract design on notecard (opened flat here)
2025
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Notes about poem and art: Again, poem and art not directly connected, but I think both sit under the umbrella of keeping myself open; hence this post’s title. The art here is an excerpt from a larger exploration entitled Undercurrents created 10 years ago in the days following my mom’s death. I’d cut into the larger piece some time ago and this remainder caught my eye today when I went to make a condolence card and poked around my studio for inspiration. I trimmed, fine-tuned, created a fine-line black border, found card stock, assembled, and wrote my note, open en route to feeling my feelings.
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12 responses to “Keeping Myself Open”
I have an image in my head about you out walking at dawn. Early mornings are magical and you captured it beautifully in your poem.
The fact that you made a condolence card from art you made after your mom’s death 10 years is meaningful on every level. What comfort that will be to the recipient. The piece is just lovely!
MaryAnn, I take great pleasure in hearing you say my poem captures beautifully the magical quality of earlybird morning walks. Making the condolence card from art I made after my mom’s death all those years ago offered up a wellspring of both solace and joy in the making—thank you for seeing it through that lens.
It’s incredible the output your new direction in poetry is giving you!
Simone, it feels incredible to me, too! And grateful.
