On October 29, 2024 I had the pleasure of participating as a visual artist and “poet” in Artist Talk as Poem, Performance, Song at Blackfish Gallery in Portland, Oregon. The event was part of Portland Book Festival, which begins this Saturday, November 2, 2024.
Artists shared visual interpretations of the classic artist statement through performance, dance and poetry.
Although I’m a published writer, I am not a poet. My previous forays into poetry were mostly angst-ridden verse written during my teenage years, crying into my pillow. Nonetheless, Capricorn Love was composed in one sitting.
Ekphrastic poetry uses a work of visual art as a literary device. In this tradition, my poem was inspired by Zimbabwe Black Serpentine, by Damien Manuhwa on the campus of Sitka Center for Art and Ecology.
The sculpture depicts a wild goat, a ram if you will, embracing a human woman. It spoke to me in the voice of the goat. The words tell the story of the love Nature, represented by the goat, has for us humans. How can we take care of our planet if we are unaware of its love for us?
I accompanied my poem with three visual art pieces I made after writing it. One is a watercolor and the other two are monotype prints made at Atelier Meridian here in Portland.
In the video, which includes images of the accompanying visual art, I read Capricorn Love. Below, is the poem.
Capricorn Love
Through wind and rain
In sun and frost,
I enfold her in my hoofed limbs,
close to my heart.
Naked, her fur is too fine and thin,
Too thin to keep her warm. Her hide tears
much more easily than mine
It cannot withstand the brambles and
Thorns deep in the bushes where the
Best berries are found.
She lacks horns to fight off
Predators and weaker humans like herself.
Without tools
She is nearly powerless.
Her tender feet prevent her from climbing
Jagged mountainsides where the
Most delectable of ferns and grasses
peer from the cleft stone.
She has never seen our beautiful earth from on high
So I embrace her to myself
Protecting her from harm while
A Swainson’s thrush whistles overhead.
I hold her close through wind and rain,
In sun and frost
Until the end of the world when
the stone we are made of
returns to stardust.
by Julianna Paradisi copyright 2023
Video recording by my husband David-Many thanks!
JParadisi (Retired) RN Blog 