Also by a passage from a multi-media poem I wrote in 2007.
That 2007 poem and video can be found here below “Heart On A Wheel”.
reach with suffered care
to wrap the earthen clay
in love
callused digits
yellowed by habit
shape and mold
caressing purposefully
yet tenderly
the moist pliable vision
spinning golden
atop the wheel
unfolding carefully
evolving
responding
to the maker’s
knowing touch
the envisioned creation
slowly reveals itself
to the creator
ever eager
to bring forth
the concealed secret
blood and bone
in flesh’n grip
connect
seduce
sculpting emotions
into beauty
*
rob kistner © 2021
Poetry at: The Sunday Muse
Multi-media video created and produced by Rob Kistner.
no longer is
gray now shines
from a balding head
filled with scarlet embers
memories still burn
a fired spirit
too deep for coddled mortals
to fully fathom
red is real
red is legend
his tales of pain
of injustice
the lore of the big muddy
his eyes
earthy brown
turbulent as that river
his stare
a deep current
impossible to escape
you’re swept away
his voice
a tempered edge
honed by blues
broadleaf husky
thick as sorghum
smooth as beale street bourbon
the cf martin
swings from a leathered neck
on a tattered strap
stretched and shaped
by the heft of sorrow
poured into the soundhole
marked and scarred
by years of burden
of witness
its character and patina
bear testament
to a genuine soul
cracked and seasoned hands
reach with suffered care
to wrap the fingerboard
in love
callused digits
yellowed by habit
depress taut strands
no longer catgut
blood and bone
grip
connect
sculpting emotions
true life
ensnared in sitka spruce
and spiraled steel
knowing strains rise
chords of loss
rhythmic stomp
stinging verse
of broken promise
failed love
of dirt field
cruel street
back alley
of harsh wisdom
resonate to fill this space
to break my heart
to steal my soul
swept away
2 for the price of 1! What a treat Rob! You had me at Heart on a Wheel, but also this second one, Swept Away with the spoken video is absolutely stunning and perfect for the prompt!
Thank you so much Carrie! Looking at the amazingly powerful and beautiful hands in the photo prompt today, caused me to instantly flash back on that passage I wrote 14 years ago, in “Swept Away” — and which I eventually produced as a spoken word video. So I paraphrased and expanded upon that original passage, reshaping it into “Heart On A Wheel”. I now have two poems, both of deep meaning to me.
Images do stir many feelings and memories. Glad that this made you write such a lovely poem and remember yet another one to share again.
Thank you Carrie!
Indeed I was swept away. Your description of the “callused digits, yellowed by habit” and the Martin “on the leathered neck and tattered strap” brought Willie Nelson to my mind, his battered Martin and arthritic fingers that still manage to make magic. Yes, I was swept away.
Willie is a wonder! Glad you liked this Bev! It was fun writing, reading, and producing the video. I used to create a number of spoken word videos around my poems back in that time. Unfortunately all but two, maybe three I’ve lost, the result of a screw up I created with a YouTube site I had back then… 🙁 …oh well, live and learn.
“blood and bone / grip / connect / seduce” – perfect.
Thank you JR!
Heart on a Wheel …. One of the most beautiful ‘love’ poems I have read ….. sighs for days. Swept Away … did just that ~ cheers.
Thank you Helen!
All the creator’s mysteries on display here. The revolves, indeed.
the *heart* revolves, that is.
🙂
The clay stirs the vision, the vision informs the fingers, the hands orchestrate the fingers, this all works in harmony to coax and seduce the spinning clay to reveal the maker’s vision and brings the secret of the vision, concealed in the clay, to life.
Both are great, Rob. It’s nice that one of your poems could inspire you to write another that’s just as good.
Thank you Ken. I think in this case it’s because I have a special fascination for aged hands. I believe the say so much about the human spirit, the things I admire — the fight and will to survive, and to take hold of all that is required to finally have aged hands. Deep respect I hold for such… snd I seem to remember the times I have included them in my work.
I’m blown away by your 2 gorgeous poems
BRAVO!!!
Happy Sunday, thanks for drlpping by to read mine
Much love…
Thank you Gillena, and much love to you my friend… 🙂
Great, Rob. I’ll take the first one, my lines are the last, “sculpting emotions into beauty” as that is what they do.
..
Thank you Jim.
In the first, I love particularly:
the envisioned creation
slowly reveals itself
to the creator
ever eager
to bring forth
the concealed secret
The second is quite the tour de force, that in itself being a tribute to the subject. I like the way you’ve matched certain lines to the first poem, binding them into a (progressive) whole.
Thank you Rosemary. Written 14 years apart, I am personally pleased how they complement each other as a tribute to the experienced hands of an artist.
2 winning poems, Rob. Favorite line of the first one:
“sculpting emotions
into beauty”
Great definition of art!
Wonderful character study of a blues musician on the 2nd. Favorite lines:
“stretched and shaped
by the heft of sorrow
poured into the soundhole”
Thank you Lisa, very much!
Wow beautifully woven poems with colourful threads
Thank you Marja!
Love the way these poems connect; the first one gave me an impression of the material working with the one forming it and the second of the time that it takes to become so close to your material that you can see what it wants to be.
Serendipitous Chrissa… 🙂
I love this poem so much. “unfolding carefully evolving” I feel in just those few words you have expressed my journey over the last decade.
May your journey yet continue Susie! 🙂
You poured your heart in this beautiful poem.
Thank you Sunita very much!
Both these poems are stunning, Rob. The images pop in my head.
Great work!
Wow so thank you!
What a great gift in your two poems. Many years ago I tried pottery but couldn’t get on with it however my younger daughter took it up and is quite proficient with her own wheel at home.
Thank you rob
sculpting emotions
into beauty
Great close, Rob! Pottery requires lots of patience unlike others. as it must be completed there and then before it hardens! Yes, lots of emotions are provoked to get to the beauty at the end!
Hank
Thank you Hank —- 🙂
And we will continue to throw and re-throw the clay.
Ad infinitum… 🙂
From the bottom of my heart ~~ I will miss you (at the Muse) for much of your best work has been here. These two poems are proof positive.
Thank you for your kind words. I will miss The Sunday Muse too Helen, very much. I so appreciate Carrie’s wonderful commitment and diligence in publish this wonderful site. For me, using an intriguing visual prompt lets me open my imagination to wonder and create much more thsn bring directed by someone else’s words, though I appreciate dVerse and the wonderful folks who keep it going, and all the poets that contribute every week.
Great poems Rob, I especially love the first one ????
Thank you Ange… 🙂 …the 2nd one, plus Carrie’s image, inspired the first one… 🙂