Swan concerns could not be organizedin the swamp of the Black Swan’s instincts.
The bugling call of her wedge in flight didn’t compel her.
Soft crooning did not tickle her ‘neath her quivering feathers.
Only the whistling warnings of wary Blacks startled her to flee.
She could not find herself among them,
so alike they are to one another.
Where was the uniqueness
that made her feel so strongly different?
Her neck is sunk for shame
into the cavity of her shoulders.
she cannot move her head
without cranking up an absent will.
Is her cygnet-self so strong?
Something once small, gray-feathered and sweet
felt imposed upon as she cowered
‘neath a black and threatening cloud of indistinguishable wings.
She panicked in the strange familiarity.
Her unquenchable spirit is roused by her dilemma.
It yawns and stretches,
smoothing out the creases of her serpentine neck.
She takes pleasure in the flock of mirrors above and around her.
She rises, broad-winged, out of the trap of her individuality
into the singularity of her communal flight.
Listen to Charlanne read this poem. Click here.
3 comments:
this is a very interesting collaboration. i love the poem, i love the sculpture, and together thay take on yet another form.
From a recording standpoint: I felt the swan poem came through particularly well and your voice was more expressive and theatrical than the Giraffe poem. The giraffe poem seemed a little more uneven in terms of audio but I liked the sound of walking through the leaves. It seemed to be read with a trance like cadence and tone, which I'm sure was by design but for me made more difficult to focus on the words the first time through.
From an Artistic Standpoint: I feel that the sculptures and the poems are thought provoking on their own but pairing them is very interesting and actually helpful for someone like me who has very little experience interpreting abstract artwork. It seems that each supports the other in a unique way and that this method of collaboration helps bring art both forms of art to life.
Aram
Thank you very much Aram for the thoughtfulness of your comments. I especially enjoyed the giraffe reading and have considered redoing the Swan reading. I liked the intimacy of the giraffe goddess's voice. I see her leaning in to her companion as they walk. I was walking in stones and grass at the cranberry bog and stopped at words I wanted to emphasize because I see the goddess's companion as having stopped in fear. Then she warns her and reassures her that clear-thinking comes with forward action. This is me talking to me, you know. I liked the breathlessness as if they had been walking together for quite a while.
The Black Swan is more theatrical in its variation. I just think I would do it differently if I practiced it a bit. Hearing myself read is really making a difference to me.
I also think that commentary of any kind can be helpful in viewing visual art - thus the collaboration between Donna and me. I would like others to know that viewing art is (or can often be) telling a story to the self. I have spent many lovely hours letting art speak to me. For this reason I am hoping that over time this (or some similar blog) will spark that response in a reader. Donna and I want to be sent a story from another viewpoint.
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