Poem from recent reading.

Here is a second poem, it is about the demise of nature's role as a mysterious, primal, worshipped entity in our world of green living and global warming---NATURE informs a lot of my writing, along with SEX and RELIGION--

the sleep of an old god is profound-a heartbreak

he was the world once now watching
it wane with dwindling sleepy eyes
through corolla nestled in calyx scent
faded color a memory

he lingers in galls falls like scales from
moth's wings haunts the mysterious
bubbles clustered at pond's edge his
quiet regret a whisper of fin in brackish
water the muted gleam of once-silver scales

he clasps death between rich gritty loins
a sterile pod his waiting cenotaph no seed
to scatter no green dreams of sticky sap
where stranded insects wait patiently for
hungry birds an offering to nothing no
remembrance for a stranger who picks up
a fallen bluebird feather more precious than
diamonds listening to cicada song more lovely
than bach and touches face to forest floor
kissing the sleeper goodnight

Timothy Wright April 2009
Please respect the copyright of this work--do not reproduce without express permission--

Recent poetry reading at Outwrite Books

Tuesday last week I read with two other poets, Alice Teeter and Lakara Foster, at Outwrite Books here in midtown--the evening was a success, and thanks goes out to the evening's host (and fine poet) Franklin Abbott as well as Philip Rafshoon, owner of Outwrite Books --thanks also to the attendees, who came "out" to support their local poets--I will be posting several of the poems I read from that evening in the next few days--Here is the first:

Our Weather

it's dark today the clouds gathering to storm at one
another they'll roil and roll and rain rain rain casting
temperamental flashes of lightning and thunder until
they're sort of blandly tired and then they'll morph
into potent grey fugues that last a long while and threaten
to start a tempest again but don't because they've spent
themselves which is typical of clouds lingering lowly lowly
until just as evening comes a furtive breeze sneaks under
and pushes them apart allowing the sun's last rays
to filter through and catch momentarily on a bright leaf
a velvety flower the hint of a rueful smile and it goes down
leaving the evening warm with sparkling stars and one
of us says to the other what do you want for dinner?

-Timothy Wright April 2009

Please respect the copyright of this poem--do not reproduce without express permission--thanks--

Invitation Design

I recently created this design for an Atlanta Ballet Corps de Ballet event, below--

Poetry Reading

This Tuesday, April 7th, I will be reading poems at 7:30 along with two other poets at Outwrite Books -- The evening's host is poet and author Franklin Abbott--Please show up and support your local poets!--check out event details here --

Poem

Inspiring: The sea and its old but potent God

I wrote this poem last year about neptune, who captured my imaginantion:

neptune

his lips
the narrow rose shell of them
pale sunset at the edges
vermillion moving inwards
more moist and vibrant then-
warm and wet

are parted

beyond the entrance
a grotto of orderly pearls
a quivering meat
a smell of the sea

in the cavern leading up
from his soul

Please respect the copyright of this poem and do not reproduce without my express permission.

What I admire/what interests me now

Shells and poems of the sea (check out my poem neptune)--Asia (crowded, ancient, still mysterious in many ways)--foo dogs (Thanks David B., and more on that soon)--MARCEL Proust (always)--Easter and eggs and carrots--crepe paper (part of a new project)--chapbooks and 'ZINES--inkblots (my own erotic ones)--and especially pop artist and 80's icon Keith HARING, below:

Keith Haring Photographed by Annie Leibovitz

Ribbon: The Art of Adornment: featured.

Romantic Homes magazine is featuring my book, Ribbon: the Art of Adornment, in their March issue, on news stands now--Check it out--

KOOZA

Kooza comes from the Sanskrit word "koza" which means box of treasure, and this title for the new show by the Cirque Du Soleil is perfect--it is a treasure--I recently attended a Sunday performance with my friend Jeffrey R.--I've wanted to check out those whimsically stiped tents since they first set them up--When we entered the great central tent, the space seemed intimate despite the size, the air teeming with excitement and expectation--the performance that unfolded before us was tremendous--it started with the simple act of a child flying a kite--he receives a package, a large box, and when he opens it, the fun begins--from there events led one to another, treating us to wonderfully inventive, funny, and amazing displays of circus theatre--I loved the two girls who silently emerged on a platform, bodies entangled like some sparkling, rather hard-to-define sculpture--they then came apart to reveal their gold-clad bodies and proceeded to contort thermselves in ways I couldn't imagine possible--The tight-rope walkers were spectacular, especially when they got out the bikes--The two gorgeously muscular guys on the large spinning wheel aperatus were stellar--There was a cool Asian guy with what appeared to be tattoos covering his legs who proceeded to stack chairs incredibly high and balance on them--he was amazingly graceful--The costumes were gorgeous, especially the Vegas-showgirl-style costumes with the ostrich and pheasant plumes, and the costume that the "genie" wore with the sparkling skull mask and black and white embroidered suit--It was a magical afternoon--I encourage everyone to go see Kooza before it leaves--

DRACULA

The Atlanta Ballet doesn't put on Dracula every year, so it is always a treat to see this, my favorite among their productions--This wonderful interpretation is dark and sensual and hyper-theatrical--lots of moody smoke and anguish and blood and lust with a cool wolf carcas (and a child sacrifice!)--I attended the night of Friday the 13th at the new venue for the ballet, The Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, a great match for the company--Just before the show, a handsome and earnest young guy proposed to his fiance in front of the entire theatre--Of course everyone was delighted--

The gifted Jonah Hooper (one of the tallest of the principle dancers)was an imposing and mysterious Dracula, his style both sinuous and athletic--He totally inhabited the role, putting his interpretation and the rich red robes of the charactor to perfect use--After the performance, patrons went upstairs for a cocktail reception with the dancers--it was a great evening with great art--

I do love ballet (like Edward Gorey--but I don't go as religiously he did in New York), and we have one of the better companies in the country here in Atlanta--I encourage everyone to go see one of the performances of the Atlanta Ballet--it's a treat and nourishes the soul--yes, I am serious!--

Firebird, a classic, is coming up March 26-28th, and in April-Don Quixote!--

Tara-Lynne Pixley

Box Luncheon.

Atlanta Ballet Events

Recently the Atlanta Ballet had their annual boxed lunch for the Corps de Ballet in one of the upstairs dance studios at their headquarters on West Peachtree in Atlanta--Typically, boxed lunches are more spartan than, for instance, the fall luncheon at the Piedmont Driving Club, which kicks off the new season each year--For this occasion, lunches are literally served to partrons in boxes, though of course the food, while less elaborate, is pretty fantastic, and good wine was available (yum)--Merry Carlos chaired the lunch, and the theme was Dracula, one of the company's most anticipated productions--

My talented friend Gailen and I created the table coverings for the luncheon--she had the idea of using scrim to create textured, wispy-looking table cloths on which we could stencil a pattern--I created a simple, yet graphic design that looked sort of grand and stylized and menacing at the same time, if such is possible--Another friend, Catherine Walthers, created the flower arrangements for the table--blood red roses--

After the lunch, we went downstairs to another, larger studio, to watch the company practice a key scene from Dracula--That was the best part of the afternoon, really--My two favorite dancers were there, John Welker and Jonah Hooper--Both alternate in the title role--The original choreographer for this particular ballet, Michael Pink was in town and put everyone through their paces--what a treat--

To see the company rehearsing for Dracula, check out Tara-Lynne Pixley's excellent photos--