A Grand Canyon
Design
Imagine the self as a canyon in the making,
once solid, and then, ongoingly,
made more spacious, shaped by water,
by wind, by forces beyond its control.
Whatever is sacred, I feel it in canyons,
these earthen temples to surrender—
such holy architecture
with their deep and ancient silence,
with their steep and crumbling walls.
How sacred the angle of light
as it enters from the rim and slants
through the belly of air.
Sacred, too, the shadows,
like those most secret parts of ourselves
that never see light.
When I think of the self as a canyon,
it is easier to believe I, too,
can be made more spacious
through surrender, the shape of my life
an ever-changing record of where I resist
and where I release,
oh this practice I am still learning
to trust, this erosion of self
into reverence.
—Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Occasionally I enter my studio and the combination of an idea in mind, an intended recipient, a set of outcome expectations, and a due date for completion opens the doors to creative energy, and—oh happy day!—I fly.
A few weeks ago, not so much.
Not so much at all. Instead, I met with many false starts, little to no flow, persistent procrastination, and abundant gray clouds of discouragement.
Enter the poem above by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. Thank you for saving me from myself, Rosemerry!
Sweet surrender!
What a gift to let the act of painting be exactly what it is: a record of where I resist and where I release.
8 x 8″; acrylic, ink, pencil, and collage on paper
abstract design
2025
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14 responses to “A Grand Canyon”
Oh my….what a beautiful and powerful poem! Creating spaciousness should be a goal for us all. Who knew we could learn so much from a canyon!
It was not likely easy for the canyon…but the spaciousness found its way. Just like it did for you and these beautiful little creations. The pink and yellow ooze spaciousness and light….and the black and text show reverence and surrender!
Bravo Dotty!
Dotty, Dotty, DOTTY!!! I have now read the poem three times – it is like you knew just exactly what I needed to hear today! The resistance and release – a new framework for observing the self.
And the art – glorious release. Brilliant!
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That poem has turned out to be exactly what I needed to hear each and every time I’ve read it—I guess it is exactly what I need to hear. Period.
Resistance and release. Yup. I’m feeling considerable resistance today, fighting droopiness and guilt and sadness among other things. But then, you see glorious release in my art here, and now I also feel release : )
Brilliant!
Dotty, as I started to read this post, I thought, Oh My God, she sounds just like RWT, (knowing how much we both love her) and wondered if you did the technique where you take a fave poem and create a new rendition. Beautiful work here. And my favorite line (well, one of my favorites!): oh this practice I am still learning
to trust, this erosion of self
into reverence.Curious – do you ever read her poems outloud? I love to do that.
LOL with delight that as you started reading this post you thought I’d written the poem and that it sounded just like RWT. Nope! She gets all the credit this time, although she has inspired me to make forays into more writing myself. I share your appreciation of the RWT line you quote in your comment above. It knocks my socks off each and every time I read it. I do sometimes read her poems aloud, but not consistently; thanks for reminding me of that practice.
Lovely to see this poem here once again, and it’s lovely to see your art popping up in my mail!
Your feelings so resonate with me. “Not so much at all. Instead, I met with many false starts, little to no flow, persistent procrastination, and abundant gray clouds of discouragement.” A feeling I usually have when going to my weekly workshop. Don’t know what to do, and nothing comes out. One day up, one day down… in Yiddish it sounds better!
Great group of paintings full of freedom, movement, and optimism! Just follow the paint, it usually takes you where it wants to go. If not it’s just paper and paint.
Have to re-read the poem a few times to really get it’s feeling!
Carol, thank you for your thought-ful and feeling-ful comments here. What is the Yiddish for one day up, one day down?? I’d do well to have a quick label for the vagaries of my painting adventure.
Thanks for the feedback on the paintings themselves. I knew in advance I wanted to paint something as a gift of celebration for my niece’s completing her master’s degree, and I got twisted in knots for quite awhile b/f I let go of the resistance of fear and found my way to the release of surrender. Grateful I got there!
Perfect!!!
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