Last year at one of Mark Plessinger's multi-disciplinary arts events at Frame of Mind, the local writer and poet, Cassie Premo Steele, created poetry in response to some of the paintings by artist, Bonnie Goldberg, whose work you saw in Jasper's last message. At Jasper, we love it when artists come together to inspire one another and share their gifts with each other and those of us who are lucky enough to stand and watch.
Here are two of the poems Cassie wrote for that night. For more of Cassie, please visit her at www.cassiepremosteele.com.
Look this way
Look this way, he said,
as she turned her head
away from him, again.
Her own shoulder
makes a better bed
than his ever did.
It took her years
to believe it, though.
His hard bones,
she thought,
were the best
she could do.
Hand on hip,
she finally said
the words: We're through.
For Goldberg's Drawing 202, ‘nude female standing.’
Your daughter turns from you
Your daughter turns from you daily now,
with the grace of a dancer, and somehow
you learn to accept it, that carpet she weaves
and walks away upon each day.
You knew this day would come, even
before she could walk and you spent
hours drumming on her thighs and
humming lullabies. You were preparing.
You saw flashes of it at two and ten,
her rage slicing the way for her to cut
away from you. You were smug
and thought you knew wisdom.
Becoming daughter to mother, we learn cutting.
As mothers, we learn waving goodbye and staying.
The lesson of grandmothering: Crying. Smiling.
Never saying how hard it is to see them leaving.
For Goldberg's Painting 145, ‘promises.’
Cassie Premo Steele is the author of eight books and teaches writing and everyday creativity at The Co-Creating Studio. Check her out at www.cassiepremosteele.com