Of course I’m going to create a painting involving meteorites when there’s a meteorite shower in the offing, and of course as a poet I’m going to romanticize it.
Finally got the last edits done to allow my latest poetry and painting book ‘My Next Breath’ to be available in Kindle as well as in print.
Here’s the link to the books page on my website which will show you all the books without having to hunt them down on Amazon – or you can just search for me on Amazon if you wish. I’ll be ordering physical copies soon for the studio so let me know if you’d like a signed copy directly from me.
Something else that fell out of the end of the pen…..
Childs play
Play with time.
Play with time and mold it
like a consequence of childhood,
a wrong turn in family, leading to
raising more of a hellcat than a child.
Play with time
and fold the horror back into itself
until it is no more than a streak
as inconsequential as a minute
you only remember when reading your diary.
Play with time
until the book falls out of the window
when you move out
and life becomes a Play-Doh landscape
that is finally your own.
Some things just fall out of the end of the pen…..
When I’m dead
You’ll be the first I’ll visit when I’m dead.
I guess that you’ll be waiting there for me
and we can say all that we’ve left unsaid
about things that were never meant to be.
You’ll get the joke I never did tell right,
unless we’re in a place jokes can’t be told.
You’ll know that fuss I made was not a fight,
and love that would have stayed as we grow old –
because it did, despite lives that diverged
for reasons that need never be explained.
Each time I thought of death, my feelings surged
that it would be when I see you again.
You’ll be the first I’ll visit when I’m through
and then you’ll know I wrote this one for you.
This painting was partially worked on during a demonstration a couple months ago. I didn’t complete it until a little while later.
#1438 Turquoise jewels. Refractured watercolor on solid panel. 17.5×10″. $175.
The following poem is written for and painted into the painting:
Turquiose Jewels
Dawn leaves me speechless
these gold and turquoise jewels
precious beyond words.
My 4-panel painting ‘The Four Hours of Equinox‘ is often mistaken for a row of 4 individual paintings, and people want to buy just one. The stars one is the most popular, so I thought I would do a just-stars painting in the same shape.
#1434 Until the sun goes down. Mixed media on shaped solid panel. 24×11″. $250.
The following poem is written for and painted into the painting:
You cannot cry for love that’s lost
Until that love is done.
You cannot wish upon a star
Until the sun goes down.
I decided to spent some of my new free time to call people I haven’t seen in a while, or have stopped seeing in the course of life because of the social distancing. I also decided to use the time for some more poetry. On Sunday afternoon I sat down to write a poem but didn’t find any inspiration, so I decided to call someone. I got voicemail. So I called someone else. Ditto. Eight voicemails later, I had my inspiration.
Voicemail
A quiet day with little going on,
in Covid times the schedule is quite bare.
I miss my friends, hope they have not become
statistics with what’s going on out there.
I guess they also won’t have much to do
so thought I’d be the one that would reach out,
pick up the phone and say “Hey, how are you?”
not leave our friendship’s worth to me in doubt.
But all I got was voicemails! Every one!
Had I missed out on something? Checked the news…
there’s really nothing different going on!
I guess just me that’s sat here with the blues.
They’ll all call back at once, that’s what they’ll do
And get my outgoing voicemail message too!
Skyscapes for the Soul - Jeni Bate 