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Image-ine Poetry: “Bedsheet” by Lisa Hess Hesselgrave

By Maureen Doallas 15 Comments

Writing poetry from art ignites creativity and helps you become a better writer. Join Maureen Doallas in this Image-ine exercise based on “Bedsheet, ” a painting by Lisa Hess Hesselgrave.

__________________

Apprentice

Every boy should know how
to do a veronica, fix one knee
in front of the other, and bend

the spine to sounds of Ole! Ole!,
sure two-handed maneuvering
of the makeshift cape bringing

fully imagined bull to its lancer.
A particular flick of the wrists
takes practice to pose, each pass

low to keep the beast’s head down.
Some days it’s science, some art,
bull and boy both brought to kneel.

Who protests the positioning too
soon for the kill is lost in the last
swirls of magenta. Beyond the ring

feet fly; a clean white handkerchief
waves and waves. A mother waits
to press cloth to son’s bleeding face.

__________________

Write a poem of your own based on Lisa’s image “Bedsheet” or choose a line from Maureen’s poem as a starting place. Post on your blog and link to us (we love that), or just drop your poems here in the comment box.

This is the first of a series of Image-ine posts based on Lisa Hess Hesselgrave‘s paintings.

See the first Image-ine Poetry post in this series.

See the second Image-ine Poetry post in this series.

See the third Image-ine Poetry post in this series.

See the fourth Image-ine Poetry post in this series.

Painting: “Bedsheet” (oil on canvas) by Lisa Hess Hesselgrave. Used with permission. Poem by Maureen Doallas,  author of Neruda’s Memoirs: Poems.

__________________

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  • Author
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Maureen Doallas
Maureen Doallas
Maureen is an editor at Artist Watch and Escape Into Life, as well as the author of Neruda's Memoirs: Poems.
Maureen Doallas
Latest posts by Maureen Doallas (see all)
  • Persecuted Poets: Hearing the Voices Beyond Our Borders - November 30, 2016
  • Writing with Matisse in Mind - October 26, 2016
  • Healing with Poetry: Interview with Fred Foote (Part 3) - September 10, 2015

Filed Under: Art, Attentiveness Poems, Blog, Childhood Poems, Creativity, Image-ine

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About Maureen Doallas

Maureen is an editor at Artist Watch and Escape Into Life, as well as the author of Neruda's Memoirs: Poems.

Comments

  1. Maureen Doallas says

    December 20, 2013 at 9:21 am

    Lisa’s paintings are wonderful narratives; they can go in so many directions. I’ve enjoyed so much using them as inspiration.

    Thank you for introducing her work to me.

    Reply
  2. Scott Edward Anderson says

    December 20, 2013 at 9:40 am

    How wonderful you’ve discovered Lisa’s work! Her paintings are magical narratives, poetry in their own right, and perfect for your project. We were at the Millay Colony together in 2002, where she did the painting I used yo illustrate an early poem of mine in this post: http://seapoetry.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/juvenilia-snow-sleeping-november/

    Looking forward to the rest of your series!

    Reply
    • Maureen Doallas says

      December 20, 2013 at 10:02 am

      How wonderful to have Lisa’s work in your personal collection, Scott. Lovely piece that inspired your poem. (Thank you for sharing it.) She’s a real find! And I thank L.L. again for introducing us virtually.

      I agree with your use of the word “magical” . For some of the paintings I selected, I’d add the words “edgy” and “dark”; that combination drew me in. Her work creeps up on the viewer, and suddenly I hear the word “Surprise!”

      Reply
  3. Kathryn Dyche Dechairo says

    December 20, 2013 at 10:57 am

    Love how inspired that poem was . . .

    Reply
    • Maureen Doallas says

      December 20, 2013 at 12:56 pm

      Thank you, Kathryn. I hope you’ll join us in making poems with the prompt
      .

      Reply
  4. Richard Maxson says

    December 21, 2013 at 1:10 pm

    You Know This Story
    — For Janet

    In the story I tell that begins with you,
    there is a dark hallway with chairs,
    and the solid beams of flashlights,
    like brilliant roads leading
    to your laughing face.

    To the casual reader,
    dark hallways are scary,
    but then this is the flashlight’s
    adult end, with sharp edges like,

    why would I write such a thing?

    Where you are, the light is soft
    and wide, in a forest of chair legs,
    a sky of bed sheets, as far away
    as I can see from the here and now.

    What is now would have been mysterious,
    like a journey to a foreign land,
    you in the light of children,
    so far from make believe, doing work
    you would not have imagined.

    Sometimes there is a small door
    in the distance of a memory,
    a slice through the riddle of time.
    There waits a sound, a thought,
    a secret to be kept beyond reason.

    You know this story:

    Mount Airy, where the Willys stopped,
    half way to Florida; we swam
    until our teeth chattered, in the frail air,
    the lavender shoulders in the distance,
    enduring the ages of the vaulted stars;
    you must remember, the water was so warm.
    Even after we were gone, the water,
    unnoticed from the here and now,
    continues gathering the day’s warmth
    and each night holds it until morning,
    for the someday we might return.

    Reply
  5. Maureen Doallas says

    December 21, 2013 at 1:18 pm

    There’s lovely movement of memory in this, Richard, and some wonderful lines: “a forest of chair legs / a sky of bedsheets”; “the lavender shoulders”; and, my favorite, “you in the light of children”.

    Thank you!

    Reply
  6. annell says

    December 23, 2013 at 11:42 am

    Enjoyed the post!

    Reply
  7. Elizabeth W. Marshall says

    December 27, 2013 at 9:54 am

    Wildly imaginative. I think I held my breath while I moved through the lines of this very very fine poem. I am crazy about this series. So excited to see and hear what’s to come.

    Reply
  8. Elizabeth W. Marshall says

    December 27, 2013 at 10:14 am

    Folds Of The Soul

    No, you are never ever alone
    Even at the break of dawn
    Even when no lights are on
    Especially when you are wild at play
    With, let’s say, your imaginary vessel
    One dreamed and schemed to build
    The one in which you’ll

    Sail away, escape

    Within a land of solitary play
    Alone is always simply okay
    No one will tell you what to say
    Or how to script your wild and child-like ways

    No, you are never alone
    Even though you are a solitary soul
    Taking up all the space in a rather crowded room
    Filled with imaginings found amid the dark and gloom
    Even if you have but one stark tool with which to build
    A story

    Once upon a time the bed sheet became a sail
    And away he went to the land
    Of childhood delight
    Where a friend was found for him
    Who previously had not one

    Pulled from the folds of his very soul
    Captured on the wings of wild and wooly
    Play
    And a technicolored

    Imagination to save the day.

    Reply
  9. Rosanne Osborne says

    January 1, 2014 at 4:27 pm

    Annum Sacrum

    Twelvemonth burns
    to begin,
    estrus riding
    the spokes
    relentlessly rotating
    the dreams
    buried in burdened
    ash.

    Reply
    • L. L. Barkat says

      January 1, 2014 at 7:14 pm

      so pleased to see you here, Rosanne. Love the poem 🙂

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Image-ine Poetry: "Hot Sky" by Lisa Hess Hesselgrave | says:
    December 27, 2013 at 9:43 am

    […] the first Image-ine post in this […]

    Reply
  2. Image-ine Poetry: "Plywood Archer #1" by Lisa Hess Hesselgrave | says:
    February 21, 2014 at 9:26 am

    […] the first Image-ine post in this […]

    Reply
  3. Image-ine Poetry: "Girl in Street" by Lisa Hess Hesselgrave | says:
    March 28, 2014 at 11:13 am

    […] the first Image-ine Poetry post in this […]

    Reply

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