“I Meant It To Be A Poem About Sparrows”: Unveiling The Painting
In 2013 I featured a Tuesday Poem series on ekphrastic poems (aka poems in response to works of art) and completed the series with a ‘counter-culture’: a work of art developed in response to a poem.
The poem was The Sparrows, from my sequence in response to the Christchurch earthquake of February 22nd, 2011; the artwork was by artist and fellow Tuesday Poet Claire Beynon and first shown as part of her 2011 En Masse exhibition.
This year, Claire gifted the painting to me, but although I have had it for some months I was focused on Daughter Of Blood and superstitiously didn’t want to unwrap it until I had time to press pause and properly appreciate it.
Yesterday, however, I did all those things: pressed pause, unwrapped the painting, and properly appreciated it, together with a number of friends who made time in their pre-Christmas busy-ness to join me.
And the painting did not disappoint: it is wonderful. But then I have loved Claire’s work for a long time and it’s a real honour to have words from one of my poems featured in one of her works.
Here is what Claire wrote about this particular painting:
“…There’s a synchronistic little story behind I meant it to be a poem about sparrows and the silence that followed. . . This drawing was already well underway when I came upon a poem by Christchurch-based writer, Helen Lowe. Helen had posted The Sparrows on her blog as part of her ongoing Earthquake Witness sequence. The opening and closing lines of The Sparrows resonated particularly powerfully for me and seemed to speak directly into/out of this drawing.
Following the 22 February earthquake in Christchurch, the birds fled the city, rendering the broken landscape all the starker through the absence of birdsong. . The closing lines of Helen’s poem read –
“. . . And then, finally, they came
their wings clouding the sun.”
My thanks to Helen for allowing me to ‘borrow’ the opening two lines as a title and for permission to include her poem on this exhibition.”
My thanks to you, Claire, for the joy and delight of the painting.
And here, for completion, is the poem, too. (And yes, I did inflict a reading thereof on my guests 😉 ). See below for the painting unveiled! (With apologies for the flash flare—not part of Claire’s work!)
The Sparrows
I meant it to be a poem about sparrows
and how the silence that followed
the February 22nd earthquake
included their absent voices —
& not just sparrows but the starlings
and blackbirds, the finches and wax-eyes
that normally fill the day with their bustle
about the business of living …
……………………………. all fallen silent,
hidden away, or gone further to find food
since half the city was covered
in a slick of water and mud. I threw
old bread onto the island of grass
in our own grey sea and waited …
…………………………..… and waited.
And then, finally, they came
their wings clouding the sun.
.
© Helen Lowe, 2011