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Poetic License

The great poet Alex Gildzen created 9 poems for our artists to interpret.

Alex Gildzen

POEMS FOR PAINTERS

 

1.

all ills lift

when butterflies migrate

yellow shimmer

shakes the ordinary

dance of angels

on earth

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2.

drinking green tea

under strawberry moon

feeling so young

I could live another century

but knowing

I could die in my sleep

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3.

when a hummingbird sits

it’s a prayer

between swoops

to sweetness

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4.

goldfish in water

silverfish on land

no fish in air

except when artists

put them there

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5.

thru scrim over atrium

I see what breeze

does to palms

halfway between hula

& hair of mermaids

in a maelstrom

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6.

sometimes

we live in a place

where balloons descend

where they break crust

to prance with magma

sometimes

we see that burst of color

that swirl of energy

& it makes us make things

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7.

tonite the moon

is half a cheesecake

but I’ve lost my fork

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8.

palms wearing wigs

& frangipani lipstick

everyday’s

a holiday

if you have the eye

to see it

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9.

amuck in the fruit aisle

balancing propinquity of apples

with exoticus of Buddha’s Hand

papaya & pipino absolve

threat of kiwano

while cotton candy grapes

turn grocery into carnival

suddenly I have the desire

to be Carmen Miranda

dancing on platform heels

with the whole store

on my head

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