Green Man: Thursday Doors

Green Man first appeared as an architectural element in ancient Rome, where he was associated with Pan and Bacchus.   As a symbol of resurrection, Green Man was incorporated into Medieval Christian architecture along with other Pagan images.  Victorian architects began adding representations of Green Man, along with other decorative elements, to secular buildings, where the Guardian of the Forest now protects the doors and windows of both public buildings and private homes.

many hands
gathered in circles,
tree dancing

illumination–
crossed over, bridged

When I began looking at my door guardian photos, I was struck by the recurring face of Green Man, a figure embodying the relationship of humans and nature. A spirit occurring in many cultures, he has been resurrected as a symbol of the Green environmental movement in modern times.

I did a collage of him in 2016 for Earth Day.

I like the way the paired doors, of two adjacent brownstones, work together. The doors themselves are different, but complement each other.

My poem is in the tanka prose form for Colleen’s #TankaTuesday.

And, as always, find more doors with host Dan Antion, here.

Child of the Universe

The NaPoWriMo prompt today was looking for surrealistic imagery in a poem.  I’m not sure this exactly fits, since it’s mostly image, but the collage box Oracle tends to brevity in its words.

She
started a ritual–
the answer
on fire,
the seeds realized
as dark matter

I also have a poem, “Numerology”, which is somewhat surrealistic, posted this month at Visual Verse.  You can read it here.

This collage was inspired by Paul Klee’s angel series.

 

harbinger

the blue of
darkness is
a blank canvas

from translucent music
comes
the shadow
of hope

moonbird rising
toward
the center of deep
light

It took me a long time to see the hat in Sue Vincent’s photo prompt, above–to my eyes the form on the sign was a magical creature, perched on the threshold.  So I just went with it.

The collage box Oracle knows what the world needs now…

Poem at the Ekphrastic Review

My poem “(and the devil too)”, a response to a mysterious painting by Omar Odeh, is up at The Ekphrastic Review, along with seven other wonderful illuminations of Odeh’s work.  My thanks to editor Lorette C. Luzajic for including my collage poem amongst all the words, and for connecting me to the work of this artist.

filling the margins,
spirits clinging to shadows–
the witching hour

The title is taken from a song by XTC, “Dear God”, a still (sadly) appropriate commentary on the world that we humans have made for themselves.

Unmasked

This face is not the one I wore yesterday. Recast as abstraction, it chases illusions that will pilot my borrowed dreams.  Today I am a galaxy of song, light, color and dance.

If I turn around
will I recollect myself
or pass myself by?

A haibun for the dVerse prompt of Mardi Gras, using synonyms for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday words “follow” and “lead”.  The collage is based on a Cajun Mardi Gras mask.  I also made the haibun a quadrille of 44 words after being inspired by Jane and Merril’s use of this very short form.

Removing the Obstacles

Inspired by Claudia McGill’s post about revisiting her snippets, I visited the Collage Box Oracle for this response to the Myths of the Mirror February prompt, below.

As with the Magnetic Poetry Oracle, you can have your own ideas, but in the end you need to follow where the word box leads.

Close your eyes and count–
a circumnavigation
out the window and

between the lines to beyond…
dream what’s inside…come to life

 

Severed Synapse

I wear myself inside out. My mask is hidden; my thoughts scriven mysteriously in code.  Sleep returns me to my origins.  I fall, resisting, afraid to let go.

I get up and it’s yesterday, dreary and inexact. Memories come together and instantly fall apart.  I am unbuttoned from the brain down.

All those rituals, the names and places, surrounding me lost and confused. No one can count them.  No one can say when or how they disappeared.

completely unfilled,
outlines stand centered between
never and not now

For Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday, a haibun using synonyms for sad and write. The top artwork is actually part of the stitching for a totally different project.  It’s done on iridescent plastic paper, and the scan makes it look brain-like I think.  The collage above I did awhile ago, but it also seemed to fit.

The mind is a delicate balancing act, always.

on tides

to be weight
less, sparkling colors
in water
or air, caught
ungrounded and threaded with
invisible light

My post for Day 15 of NaPoWriMo–better late than never I guess (wordpress has not been cooperative this morning either)–is inspired by Sue Vincent’s photo prompt, above.  I went off the edge of the page for my response.

 

Koan Collage: It Makes Me Wonder

Question the dragon
swimming in air waves.  Enter
sky light from inside
out.  No two travelers meet
with similar seas.

I consulted the Collage Box Oracle this week for Sue Vincent’s photo prompt, above.

Clouds are always a rich source of imagery.

The dragon jumped out at me right away.

And the Stairway to Heaven, too.  It makes me wonder, for sure.

 

Koan Collage: Free Your Mind

Empty out
all those illusions
and just be
the deep blue
sea, the force of green earth, the
nothing, listening.

This collage koan was inspired by the dVerse prompt to respond to the wonderful art of Catrin Welz-Stein, above.  I did my collage and poem before I looked on her website for the title of the art:  “Free Your Mind”.  Perfect.

I did this in two parts.  First, the background, above (without words).

Then the top piece.  I put them together and added the words.

Visit the website of this amazing artist:   Catrin Welz-Stein, featured at https://www.redbubble.com/de/people/catrinarno?ref=account-nav-dropdown&asc=

What a wonderful prompt!  Thanks Lillian and Catrin!