Spring Cleaning
i let my softest
pussywillow self take off
its winter jacket
tossing timid into wind,
into chill, chafe, chance, and change
—dotty seiter
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6 x 6″; collaged scraps, watercolor pencil, and ink on acrylic on paper
Make Yourself at Home series
2026
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Notes about poem and art:
• In my untitled poem, I used the tight format of a classical tanka to spring clean the clutter of excessive wordiness crowding my mind. A classical tanka is based on five lines with prescribed syllable counts (5-7-5-7-7) in which the first three lines (the kami-no-ku) set a scene, and the last two lines (the shimo-no-ku) pivot to provide emotional reflection.
• In the final addition (bottom right) to my Le’ts Play House four-patch of collaged house imagery, I also took the opportunity to spring clean, staying with simple shapes free from clutter.
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10 responses to “Spring Cleaning”
Your tanka (new word for me) poem…and your 4th collaged house are sweet and simple. They both are reminding me to embrace my own spring cleaning….and to celebrate the joy I get from simplicity at home. Taking off our winter jackets has been harder this year for so many reasons. There were so many disturbing rants from our President yesterday….I need the comfort of all things house and home more than ever.
Facing the small changes in weather, what a brave “pussywillow” you are. Thanks for showing me a new poem form. Love its simplicity.
Your last addition really lovely in its simplicity as well. The whole piece 6×6? So each section 3×3? Queen of the small format! I love how all the pieces are there but we have to build the house or not!
Carol, I feel any thing other than brave, but I take heart from nature’s steadiness of purpose, indifferent to the nonsense of us humans. The simplicity of the tanka form helped me find words to express myself and try on the idea of being brave.
Yes, Let’s Play House is 6×6″, each quadrant 3×3′”. I love how you described it as follows: “all the pieces are there but we have to build the house or not!” Thank you!
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holy moly Dotty! Firstly, the spring cleaning of word clutter by your tanka – squeeee! Brilliant and so crisp and yet simultaneously soft and self-loving. Yum.
And watching the de-clutter happen simultaneously in your art, toward abstraction and the hint of what it is (“roof” – love that!) just makes my heart sing! You took us on a beautiful transitional journey into spring. Masterful. xoxoxo
Lola, love how you characterized my tanka: “crisp and yet simultaneously soft and self-loving.” I could do with a heap more of THAT, I tell you what! Thank you.
The de-cluttering in my 4-patch was an organic outgrowth of making a mark, so to speak, and then another and another and another. Call and response. Had no idea when I started that that’s where I’d land, but I am happy to have moved away from clutter and overworking detail towards simplification and abstraction. whew!
Simone, this particular ‘stitching’ is done with a gel pen!
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