Saturday, April 30, 2011

divinity itself

lawren harris north shore


a solemn land of long-fulfilled desires
beyond the plain, beneath the evening star
fire-white from curtains of intensest blue

the five pearl doors open softly

like flashing fish the stars go by
the white, soft lightnings feel their way
to the boundless dark and back again

divinity itself seems slumbering there

all words excerpted from poetry written by mary webb

13 comments:

ellen abbott said...

love the painting.

alaine@éclectique said...

words and painting well matched.

OceanoAzul.Sonhos said...

steven, what a magnificent poem, takes us to the intensity of the night, until we can imagine the horizon where the lightning iluminates the dark blue. Beautiful painting.
have a nice day
oa.s

Ruth said...

Like flashing fish the stars go by.

What is around us is infinite. As are we, as participants.

steven said...

hi ellen, lawren harris was in what's called the group of seven. when i came t canada it was one of the first paintings i saw by a canadian artist. harris was very interested in the mysticism of the time and it had a profound effect on his approach to is work which shows up in the surface of his creations. steven

steven said...

alaine - i'll pass on your kindness to the golden fish assemblage team! steven

steven said...

oa.s, thankyou. it is magic. steven

steven said...

hi ruth - this piece of writing is assembled from lines to be found in four of mary's poems. the connection from micro to macro infinties is a nice insight. steven

Reya Mellicker said...

The painting is incredible. Wow.

All my yearning, no matter how I classify it, is for the divine, always. I think I long for ... I don't know ... ice cream? Underneath that is the yearning for God.

I wonder if that makes any sense.

steven said...

reya - i wrestle with trying to make sense of what i think and then to express it in a way that makes sense to someone else. phew! i want to pass on what little i can hold but the words get in the way and then i mislead or misdirect.
i yearn for insight, for glimpses of what is beyond the surface and then to move beyond that state. God is the state of Love that connects everything. ice cream would be a litte piece of the surface of that state - a possibility. but how does that read? how does it affect the person who sees ice cream as simply itself. i dunno.
it's probably best if you fly thoughts like kites and people will see the kit, the wind, the clouds, the whole, the threads, the balsawood sticks. whatever they need to or are willing to see. steven

R. Burnett Baker said...

Thanks Steven, for opening the world of Mary Webb to me. I like what I've read so far, and will explore her work! Aside: Have you read much of Mary Oliver?

Rick

steven said...

rick - you're welcome. i've read lots of mary oliver yes! it's an occupational gift of being a blogger who writes poetry or sees the natural world as an entry point to the deeper mapping of this place. steven

Tess Kincaid said...

I adore the line "divinity itself seems slumbering there". x