sketching the barrier behind my house//a mega party coming up& //how i wish for hazelnuts that when you throw them on the ground, a dress wells out

Posted on by claudia
photo-195

road blockade in my street

.
her hair is red flames
against rain-grey sky

don’t drive through sign,
a yellow left hand side light blinking
morse code in the half-night,

man in a grey rain coat,
sandpale dog,
a mother hand-
guiding her child
safely to the other side,

in white// on blue ground
moon shaped sign

the moon says “i’d love to have her hair”

“hmm” i nod, yearning for a counterweight
to tons of flint shades
fashionLess //i’m tired of what hangs
in endless rows in artificial feel good palaces,
the blood of sewers stuck on the brand tag
“come //come shopping” yells the mall

what i want is weaving strands
of flaming red thread
into tissue, hope-sew
a short skirt to wear, bare legs,
an ocean-birthing shirt

i sketch the dead
end sign last

“you know why the road is blocked?”

a biker wheels //in and out the pic
rain dripping from his nose,

i know nothing //other
than that red/white cutoff streaks
have stretched to knead their color into me

ms. moon
has a new bra (green lace)

& thousand orange fre c k l  e  s

.
we’re doing sketchbook poetry at dVerse today… means we capture an everyday scene or moment with quick pencil strokes…color them a bit but don’t edit too much, so that the poem keeps its fresh- and in-the-moment-ness… be quick…be brave…have fun… see you at 3pm EST at dVerse..

42 responses to “sketching the barrier behind my house//a mega party coming up& //how i wish for hazelnuts that when you throw them on the ground, a dress wells out”

  3. ha. this is fun and right up my alley…catching all the details as they enter the view….interact & intersect…thinking of the moon in red hair….the stitching the clothes on yourself is quite vivid, an ocean birthing skirt….smiles. fun fun

  6. You sure can catch every detail indeed, as always at your feed. A dog guiding a guy, as they like to do, and a mother guiding a child, things sure run wild.

  7. I wonder if Mrs. Moon bought her new bra at Victoria Secret (wonder if they have those stores in Germany). I am sure that if the world knew what Mrs. Moon wore there would soon be a shortage of those green lace bras. As far as your whole write for today, amazing all that can be written while sketching a barrier! With your imagination you should do children’s tales, Claudia.

  8. I really loved the phrase “artificial feel good palaces”…it characterizes a number of places besides malls…but more so…what people seem to seek in their lives…a most interesting poem to start my weekend.

  10. Used to have red hair, then turned white age 30, now I wear “blond out of the box :)”,
    but will always have my freckles, which magically appeared the summer I made fun of Billy Meyer’s “fly shit spots” on his face … 🙂
    … and will always be a kind of fiery red head … cuz no road stop will stop me ever …

  11. Claudia – I just can’t get over how your style just always hits me in the gut. I remember discovering poetry as a junior in high school and being in complete awe at what one can convey in this form or the written word, I’m in awe all over again. Such wonderful images, and then stanzas like this:

    what i want is weaving strands
    of flaming red thread
    into tissue, hope-sew
    a short skirt to wear, bare legs,
    an ocean-birthing shirt

    I’m there. I’m at the ocean. I’m in the waves, my clothes are flying, and they’re so free and big and yet on me, and the freedom I feel is enough to birth a whole ocean…I’m such a beach lover. No idea if you meant that literally or figuratively or both, but that’s the beauty of poetry – it speaks to each person – meets them where they are, with what they need to hear.

    I sound like a blithering groupie. Just so glad to have found you. I’ve been reading Brian for years, and am totally addicted, and now I have a new addiction. Thank you. Life has been (though Good 😉 kinda rough lately, and an ocean to relax in is what I needed today.

    Tina @ Life is Good

  13. Which came first, the poem or the sketch? Logically, perhaps, the sketch came first, captured a real moment, a real place; then then the poetics poured out of the picture. You made me want to do a sketch of something, and then write to it, but hell, the sketch would take me hours, and then there will not be time to create the poem; so I took one of my photographs taken at a place I visited, and let the word sketch emerge from that image, that recall.

  16. Fantastic input of experiences.
    can’t quite picture the ocean-birthing shirt, hope-sewn or otherwise, but the rest is vivid and amusing.
    About brand tags : I bought something and noticed on the tag it said V.I.P., which apparently stands for ‘Very Important Purchase’ these days. You’ve gotta laugh.

  18. this excels – it reminds me of a recent visit to France where my youngest ( an aspiring artist ) and I would bicycle into town and sit at the cafe over expresso and watch life move about us. Perhaps we were the goldfish looking out.

  19. I love the colors bleeding out from the fast sketching of your hands ~ I specially like that ms moon outfit ~ Thanks for the lovely challenge ~

  21. I am in love with your titles.. all of them.. and your sketches. I’ve always wished I could draw. Maybe I should make an effort. You inspire me. Oh that flame red hair and the ocean birthing shirt.. !

  22. I always love a poem more when it talks about the moon. Wonderful poem Claudia my favorite stanza:
    “i know nothing //other
    than that red/white cutoff streaks
    have stretched to knead their color into me”

  24. What a scene. I bet the moon is laughing, and embarrasses you exposed its secret – that it wants red hair. This is wonderful Claudia. Felt like a playground, like shopping at the mall with no money restrictions. So unique.

  27. The title is a poem in itself! Love the sketch, so colorful, and you painted the scene vividly with your words as well. The red hair really stands out and sets the mood … lovely 🙂

  28. First of all, I enjoyed the long, long title (such fun!) … then the poem quite carried me away, piling detail on detail; a magical experience.

  29. So enjoy your sketches, Claudia and love how you use watercolors to color them afterwards. Of course your poetry sketch was perfection…love all the detail and life that you bring to your work…love.

  32. The nature of the prompt, different ideas coming together (or maybe not coming together) makes the reader go back to the text and trying to join the dots themselves! 🙂 Which is a great effect. I loved your poem. It felt like eavesdropping on someone’s conversation.

    Greetings from London.

  34. Thanks for your comment on my blog. I know about Christtiane through an article in The Observer a few weeks ago. She was interviewed about the whole Bahnhof experience. I didn’t know about the film. I will look it up. I fancy reading more in German. I’ve got der Tod In Venedig sitting on the bookshelf, waiting to be picked up. I know it’s just a novella, but Thomas Mann scares the life out of me.The book about Banhof sounds a less difficult option! 🙂

    Greetings from London.

  39. Precise description of your artwork, Claudia.
    I especially like the role of the moon, her thoughts and the way you’ve dressed/adorned her.
    🙂