Etude

How could he paint
a flower some wisdom,
but no god

he could believe in,
designed so perfectly? Don't
borrow its periwinkle

or its vermillion. Don' t
borrow its curve,
or its line. Take them!

Break them up!
Mix them, move them,
and build them back up.

What was there that was
flat, what was there that was
white, it was what

a wisdom, but no god
he could believe in, told him
couldn't remain untouched.

A few photos

Here are a few photos from the reading I did at the opening night of George Kokines' Elgin Academy installation.

The "September 11" pieces (St. Nicholas, Ground Zero, The Sky Above)

Yours truly, reading

George and me

Have poems, will travel

Today, George Kokines' September 11 installation (with a different configuration, which the artist is excited about) moves down the road to the Elgin Academy, and I've been asked once again to read my 3 companion poems at the opening. If it's too far for you to travel, maybe you can arrange for the pieces to be exhibited closer to your town :).

9-11: Art, poetry and ritual remembering

Yesterday's debut of the September 11 paintings by my friend George Kokines at the Gail Borden Public Library was a big success. There's a nice piece of coverage on it at The Courier-News website, including a photograph of the Ground Zero piece (but ignore the characterization of the mixed-media pieces as a sculpture).

The library is a lovely building, and the organizers did a wonderful job of arranging the three pieces in the facility's rotunda. If the estimated 200 attendees hadn't been moved enough by the art, they were brought to their feet for a standing ovation after George's emotional description of the pieces and his experiences of the day that defines them.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn sent along a declaration honoring the occasion, and after it was read, I got to recite my three poems that were inspired by George's paintings (Morning, our tomorrow; Saint Nicholas; and Silver Wings). Despite a mild case of nerves, I didn't trip over any lines.

I'd like to thank George for including me in such a special occasion, and Kate Burlette, Director of Library Experiences, who acted as emcee and created a nice display for each of the poems next to the corresponding paintings.

Whetting the appetite visually

Here are a few glimpses of the works in the George Kokines installation that will be unveiled next Saturday at 10am at the Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin, IL. These pieces (in order, starting from the top, The Sky Above, Saint Nicholas and Ground Zero — all photographed by George in his studio) commemorate the events of 9/11, and inspired my three poems (Silver Wings, Saint Nicholas and Morning, our tomorrow), which I'll be reading after George's discussion that day.

Morning, our tomorrow

What we were once, two words,
we are no more, taken in

When ten sticky layers absorb
the shadows of our predecessor shapes.
Purple bruises bleed through
the buried steel

Where one-hundred shouted
stories slid down into
a waiting mouth of obtuse angles.
Vague numbers now,
we follow, ask

How one-thousand labors
couldn’t gird us against not-
birthing gusts, their reverse alchemy,
aching to prove

Why countless precious lines
could turn testily from true
geometry’s parallel path, and seek
an improbable calculus of chaotic drips,
those splats that trace a figure

Who in the flash of flame
realizes his distinctions
have lavishly become
obliterated.

Our tomorrow will know
what our today’s forgotten.

---

This is the last of the trio of pieces I wrote to accompany my friend George Kokines' installation of 9-11-themed pieces, which is to be exhibited at the Elgin public library in September. I wrote this thinking of the iterations the painting went through, its previous versions invisible but still lurking underneath, and how that's a metaphor for so much of the past that we pretend doesn't exist but always informs our present and future. If you missed the other two poems, they are Silver Wings and St. Nicholas.

A New Year Artfully Resolved

My comrade in art George Kokines converted his Rogers Park studio into a gallery for a "Works In Progress" show yesterday, and I was lucky enough to be involved in the planning and orchestration. It was his New Year's gift to Chicago, and I thought I'd share some photos from the event.

As you can see, George has quite a wide range of technique, media and inspiration, and there was a great energy in the room as we all kicked 2008 off on an expressive note. George has provided me with much guidance and focus in my creative endeavors the past year, and I hope we'll prod each other toward an even more inventive future.

Abstractly expressing birthday wishes for George Kokines

As a birthday tribute to my good friend and world renowned local artist George Kokines, I'm posting here a sampling of his paintings. These are all pieces from his Études series, in which he worked his abstract magic to transform the traditional subject of the still life.

George's birthday was yesterday (Nov. 17), and I would have put up a post sooner for the occasion, but our clique of the like minded was having too good a time celebrating out on the town.

If some of the images below appear a bit crooked, don't worry, it's just your eyes.