~ after Natalie D’Arbeloff; 2018, Boxwork, mixed media 11″ x 11″ x 7.5
Oh yes that’s you: scabbed,
acne-scarred, awkward as hell,
tongue-tied even just answering
the telephone. And nobody seems
to understand the exquisite
loneliness of checkerboard tile,
the smell of old polyvinyl
chloride shower curtains, chipped
blue enamel in this bathroom
where you retreat at least twice
a day. You let thin arrows
of scalding water rain down
your chest and shoulders,
breathe in the steam that lets
the hurt you’ve been hoarding
in your lungs escape at last—
pfffft. You rub yourself
raw with a pumice stone, soap
on skin afterward another penance
before the rinse. You already know
how it comes down to the body,
how it comes down to rituals
we’ll make for softening more
than flesh: but only later without
judgment, with kindness, before
going back into the world again.
Luisa, I’m very moved by your poetic attention and response to my boxwork and so happy that it inspired you. Thank you so much, I’m waving to you in friendship across the ocean.
Luisa, how do I post a photo here of the boxwork your poem responded to?
You can’t post a photo in a blog comment, but you can post the link.
Thank you Natalie! Waving back! xxx. If you have a link to the photo somewhere on the web, either Dave or I could include it in the post.
Many thanks Luisa. The photo is on my Facebook page and on my blog.
http://newnatalie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/cosmic-sadness-finished.html
Here it is, then:
Thank you Dave.