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By Hedy Habra
The Arts, Culture & The Creative Process are indispensable for self-expression and communication. Through this creative process, we delve into our subconscious and forge poems, musical pieces, paintings, or sculptures that help us understand ourselves and explore the world. Art is a universal form of expression linking people and cultures, erasing distances in time and space, and allowing a better understanding. Through art, we realize that we all share more similarities than differences. The Creative Process project is a much-needed endeavor, opening doors and avenues for renewal and collaboration. The different disciplines cross-pollinate and engage in an inter-artistic dialogue between artistic creations and renewed perspectives.
The three poems submitted are inspired by the artworks of two of my favorite surrealist artist, Juanita Guccione and Remedios Varo. I am an artist and have a passion for art. Most of my books are inspired by artworks of different style and periods, and I use different approaches to ekphrasis. My latest ekphrastic collection, Or Did You Ever See the Other Side? (Press 53 2023) focuses on artworks by women artists, mostly surrealists.
Or Can't You See How We're Weaving Ourselves Tight?
After Three Women and Three Owls by Juanita Guccione
Didn't you think you'd soar high up when you wore a miniskirt?
I lowered my hemline, surrendering to ghost owls' hoots
Following the rhythm of my elder's everlasting refrains
When she visited the Louvre she wanted to wear her skin bare
I lowered my hemline, surrendering to ghost owls' hoots
Wore a key chain around my wrist that didn't open any doors
When she visited the Louvre she wanted to wear her skin bare
Chest open to the drifts of wind as she'd march with Delacroix's banner
Wore a key chain around my wrist that didn't open any doors
Afraid to face the black sun of Melancholy sung by Gerard de Nerval
Chest open to the drifts of wind as she'd march with Delacroix's banner
She enters the triple dance, a sarong loosely wrapped around her hips
Afraid to face the black sun of Melancholy sung by Gerard de Nerval
I conjure my younger self's steps eager to unlock the darkness
She enters the triple dance, a sarong loosely wrapped around her hips
The three of us dive into the emerald waters under the blackened sun
I conjure my younger self's steps eager to unlock the darkness
You didn't soar high up still unable to satisfy your hunger
The three of us dive into the emerald waters under the blackened sun
United at last in our quest for meaning, weaving ourselves tight
First published by SLANT
From Or Did You Ever See The Other Side? (Press 53 2023)
After Juanita Guccione's Three Women and Three Owls https://jareckiworld.tumblr.com/post/155405875035/juanita-guccione-three-women-and-three-owls
Or How Do You Keep Track of All the Keys You Once Owned?
After Chiharu Shiota's The Locked Room
keys to unlock one's buried memories
keys to the family cottage you had to sell
keys that once opened different-sized locks
keys that had to be changed after an effraction
keys that yearn for the doors they used to open
keys thrown into a deep well, still oozing blood
keys to the palaces King Farouk owned in Egypt
keys to learning how to deal with oneself and others
keys to the meaning of feelings that you kept losing
keys to the safes holding papers that ruled your lives
keys kept in a jewelry box that must have mattered once
keys, lost, forgotten or treasured as a possible come back
keys to the wrought-iron patio gate half-covered with jasmine
keys that opened the car door that led you straight to the beach
keys to dream's horned and ivory gates that keep getting mixed up
keys meant to reach the heart of a man before he'd change the locks
keys you hold in your palm and run your fingers over and over again
keys to an old friend's house who once relied upon you to water her plants
keys passed on from generation to generation to reclaim the ancestral home
keys that you had to return to the hotel where you wished you'd spend a lifetime
keys to all the cars you've ever owned and led you through long-forgotten crossroads
keys to the office you left carrying a cardboard box filled with what seemed important
keys to the wooden-carved secretary your mother handed down to you that held no secret to her
keys to the homes you kept leaving, from country to country, from one neighborhood to the next
First published by MockingHeart Review
From Or Did You Ever See The Other Side? (Press 53 2023)
After Chiharu Shiota's The Locked Room https://www.chiharu-shiota.com/the-locked-room-1
Will She Be Able to Concoct a Potion Steeped With Her Inner Thoughts?
After The Call by Remedios Varo
She wants to step out of the valley of slumber, open her eyes wide to reach the stars,
dreams of letting her hair flow in the wind, see it rise in a fiery swirl to reach the stars.
A spark in her heart grows into a flame that keeps her warm. She discards handed down
ideas would rather gather and grind herbs to form an elixir of liberation to reach the stars,
wants her flame to swell, refuses to be immured like her elders who dwell for hours over
a new recipe for their husbands, become the perfect housewife unable to reach the stars.
She needs to move like fire, water, and wind, refuses to be trapped inside the bark,
wants to rise in the cosmos, sublimate, swim towards unknown shores to reach the stars,
yearns to rest under the shade of palm trees, pine trees, bamboo, banyans, or a sequoia,
aware that leaves await the wind's caress to unleash emotions that would reach the stars.
She wishes to concoct a potion steeped with her inner thoughts and sprinkle it with fine
mica and crystal dust till its shifting shapes reveal the answer to her quest to reach the stars.
When my mom stopped painting for lack of an art space, I'd see her bent over lampshades,
vases, pottery, ceramic, mirrors, and small boxes, turning them into canvases to reach the stars.
First published by Nūr Mélange: a ghazal anthology, Quitab Editions, 2024
After Remedios Varo's The Call https://www.singulart.com/en/blog/2024/02/23/the-call-by-remedios-varo/?srsltid=AfmBOor1233xtLXP8_chFPH8Hmhk6E3xrhjUO8G9kHmBoK1crwr9bBpK
