{"id":29067,"date":"2015-05-19T06:30:52","date_gmt":"2015-05-18T18:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=29067"},"modified":"2015-05-18T21:12:32","modified_gmt":"2015-05-18T09:12:32","slug":"the-tuesday-poem-refeaturing-nancy-mattson-compasses-a-triptych","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2015\/05\/19\/the-tuesday-poem-refeaturing-nancy-mattson-compasses-a-triptych\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tuesday Poem: Refeaturing Nancy Mattson — “Compasses: A Triptych”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Compasses: A Triptych<\/h3>\n

1.<\/p>\n

Blake drew Newton naked, every muscle
\ntense, seated on a rock, hunched over
\nthe paper world unscrolling at his feet,
\ninscribing limits with his compasses
\nlike God in Milton\u2019s paradise.<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

Rodchenko photographs his wife,
\nStepanova, working at her table,
\na pair of compasses in one hand,
\nthumb and forefinger twirling the pivot,
\neyes intent on the interlocking spheres
\nof her textile design. The universe
\nis new from skin to sky. Hand-rolled,
\na cigarette rests on her bottom lip.
\nThe ash drops, she smiles and blows it away.
\nSeed fluff, time flake, off to the past.<\/p>\n

This is no lady painter of aquarelles,
\nshe\u2019s a maid\u2019s daughter, Varvara Stepanova,
\ncalls herself \u2018Varst\u2019 and she can do anything:
\nboil pitch or potatoes, build sets for plays,
\nshoot billiards, dance tangos, make zaum
\npoems in syllables, grunts and blobs of paint.<\/p>\n

Varst is sewing canvas overalls,
\nher fingertips tough as thimbles. Bites the needle,
\nspits a smoke ring through its eye, pulls
\na thread into a V, cuts and knots it.<\/p>\n

Varst sneers at fine art,
\nslaps the heads off chrysanthemums,
\nuses her brain like a weapon, wages war
\non the object, publishes manifestos, critiques
\nall \u2018isms\u2019 and the artists who deliver them,
\nwrites in her journal with a steel nib,
\nnails their quirks and egos.<\/p>\n

Rodchenko snaps the circle in groups, pairs
\nand singles, but his wife is his favourite
\nsubject. Never object. She gazes away
\nfrom the lens as she points a blade,
\narm-length, at six of her collages.<\/p>\n

Her self-portrait mocks the easel: forehead
\na cross-hatch in blue paint, mouth a scowl
\nof black X\u2019s. She caricatures herself,
\nher husband too, as clowns
\nwith elbows and pantaloons.<\/p>\n

3.<\/p>\n

Never since John Donne has it been so true
\nas it is with this pair who stride
\nwith equal steps into the Revolution:
\nIf they be two, they are two so<\/em>
\n as stiff twin compasses are two.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Nancy Mattson<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
First published in Artemis (United Kingdom). Republished here with permission.<\/div>\n
\n

About the Poem:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

I am still engaged in the process of re-posting poets who have had multiple poems featured on \u201c\u2026Anything, Really\u201d <\/em>, or by me on the Tuesday Poem Hub<\/a>, since I joined the Tuesday Poem community in June 2010.<\/p>\n

Today I am delighted to feature Nancy Mattson’s Compasses: A Triptych<\/em>, that I featured on the Hub on October 12, 2010<\/a>. At the time, Nancy provided the following note:<\/p>\n

“Compasses” is inspired by photographs of Stepanova by her husband, Rodchenko, as well as by her own art and excerpts from her journal \u2013 all in Amazons of the Avant-Garde, eds. Bowlt & Drutt, London, Royal Academy of Arts, 1999. I was transfixed by the early 20th century Russian women artists in that exhibition and have nearly completed a book about them and their milieu. To my great surprise, my Finnish great-aunt who emigrated to Soviet Karelia in the 1930s, and was lost in 1939, has now popped up in the poems, insisting that her voice be heard.”<\/em> \u2014 Nancy Mattson<\/div>\n
\n

About The Poet:<\/h4>\n
\n
\"Nancy<\/a>

Nancy Mattson<\/p><\/div>\n

Nancy Mattson is an ex-patriate Canadian poet, now resident in London. Her third collection of poetry, Finns and Amazons<\/strong><\/em>, of which Compasses: A Triptych forms part, was published by Arrowhead Press<\/a>, in 2012.Nancy began writing poetry in 1977 after completing her MA in English Literature at the University of Alberta. Her poetry, non-fiction and reviews have been published in Canada, the US, the UK, Ireland and Finland in magazines, anthologies, the odd scholarly journal, a printed encyclopaedia and a couple of parish newsletters.<\/p>\n

In 1982 she edited and co-authored a history book which provided the inspiration for her first collection, Maria Breaks Her Silence<\/em><\/strong> (Regina: Coteau, 1989), based on the life of a 19th century Finnish woman who emigrated to Canada. This was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award for best first book of poetry in Canada. Adapted for the stage as Lye Soap and Dancing Cows, it was also broadcast on CBC Radio.<\/p>\n

Nancy’s second full collection was Writing with Mercury<\/em><\/strong> (Hexham: Flambard, 2006), with cover art by Elaine Kowalsky. Nancy is also one of five poets featured in the anthology, Take Five 06<\/em><\/strong>, edited by John Lucas (Nottingham: Shoestring, 2006). The poems in these two volumes are set in contemporary England, Canada, Finland and Italy and use memory, myth, history and family stories to create a rich linguistic and cultural texture.<\/p>\n

Nancy was also pleased to be one of 20 writers selected by Dr. Beth L. Virtanen to appear in Finnish North American Literature in English: A Concise Anthology<\/em><\/strong> (Edwin Mellen Press, 2009) and her work has appeared in many other anthologies.
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

—
\n.<\/span><\/div>\n
\"TuesPoem\"<\/a>To read the featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Hub<\/strong> and other great poems from fellow Tuesday poets from around the world, click here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Compasses: A Triptych 1. Blake drew Newton naked, every muscle tense, seated on a rock, hunched over the paper world unscrolling at his feet, inscribing limits with his compasses like God in Milton\u2019s paradise. 2. Rodchenko photographs his wife, Stepanova, working at her table, a pair of compasses in one hand, thumb and forefinger twirling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-other-writers","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29067"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29084,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29067\/revisions\/29084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}