AUTUMN RED Before hibernal cold, after vernal heat, as summer comes to close, More darkness than daylight soon will cover our planet host. Radiant leaves, ripe fruit, fall from trees. Celebrate! Rhythmic cycles of life to death, grow naturally to decompose. Earth’s tilted path, Autumn’s angles unequal in length, Sunlight threads scattered perceptions, Run fingers…
Author: ArtRoot's Writer-In-Residence
The ArtRoot Writer-In-Residence (WIR) project is an initiative founded by ArtRoot, a collaboration of artists and arts advocates who are determined to reinvigorate Racine, WI through the arts. This project is supported by the Racine Literacy Council, and funded through a generous grant from the Osborne & Scekic Family Foundation.
This project seeks to spotlight Racine and Kenosha’s dynamic literary community while encouraging, supporting, and advocating on behalf of writers at all stages of their careers.
OBSERVATIONS #14 – 11.10.24
Cast A NetCast a net into the sky,Toss into the white not blue,Sky that feels like water looks.Cast a net into the sky,Casually pull apart its soft conceal,Uncover fields of pearlescent fluffs washed in light.Cast a net into the sky,It’s weight separates the violet flower from pod,Releasing milky sap, the recipe for clouds of butterflies.Cast…
OBSERVATIONS #13 – 11.2.24
Taken In, A Fable A lady, on her way home from a political rally, found a frozen snake. Feeling compassion, she put the snake under her warm bosom, took it home where she wrapped it in silk, fed it honey, and milk. Later, finding the snake had revived, she happily exclaimed, “How beautiful you are….
OBSERVATIONS #12 – 10.27.24
In ProximityStaged by design, Neither an absolute unicum, Nor a sculptural continuum.A critical mass, the arena set in a meandering sprawl,Seen as a monument to hierarchy,Continual expansion of the false emperors power,Constructed around dark notions of axial age and fear of ruin. Pretenders pose at stagecraft,Weaponized words, spiked and sharp, Meant to exhaust Liberty, Female…
OBSERVATION #11-10.26.24
My Musings on Nobody’s Perfect with Anecdotes by B, C, J, L, M,Like butterflies, words escaped the cocoon of the story teller’s memory,Like fairy tales, transformed and captured under my pen. mp Meet M – Growing up in a family with three brothers, all went to the same religious school. Teacher identified M as their…
OBSERVATIONS #10 – 10.19.24
About the Arts and Humanities Happy National Arts and Humanities month! The White House issued its yearly proclaim that states: “The arts and humanities bring people together and show us that we have more in common than we have differences – helping us see each other, understand one another, and unite in common cause. Our…
OBSERVATIONAL INTERLUDE
Call – 10.5.24 Response – Flubbing Around By – Mimi Peterson Flubbing AroundIt is always a challenge,To find where to begin,What to say and do.Although the list starts short,Words form in quick succession.Each a cue of what follows,Too many additions block lively ambition,On the list of things to do.As perceived by the Do-ers, Waves of…
OBSERVATIONS #9 – 9.30.24
OBSERVATIONS #9 is a variation on the theme Don’t Dis’ Me. It means to suggest a source of defense for disabled people, often regarded as part of the Other. It advocates for the reduction of environmental and social barriers, thereby removing stressors, which could be the difference between life and death. Glass is an interpretive…
OBSERVATIONS #8 – 9.21.24
About Me Alone, only the distant street sounds penetrate my thoughts, Only the skylight’s my mood, Only coffee, cooling in my favorite mug, Waits within reach. I sit at the old family table of notorious memories, 100 years past, metal and glass sculpture stood proud, Some made by Daz’s hand, Others found at Chicago junk…
OBSERVATIONS #7 – 9.14.24
Follow the OBSERVATIONS cycle to discover the theme of the month – Don’t ‘Dis’ Me. At a time when our sensibilities are defined by the rhythms and rimes of propaganda’s immediacy, we, instead, turn our concentration toward disabled people. By removing environmental and social barriers that contribute to mental and physical incapacity, we ratify a…
ArtRoot Writer-In-Residence 