Dar Williams on Mark Rothko, Mark Rothko on the wall at the Tate.
The blue it speaks so full
It’s like the beauty one can barely stand
Or too much things dropped in your hand
And there’s a green like the peace
In your heart sometimes
Painted underneath the sheets of ashy snow
And there’s a blue like where the urban angels go, very bright
Now the Calder mobile tips a biomorphic sphere
Then it swings its dangling pieces
round to other paintings here
Your behavior is so male
It’s like you can’t explain yourself to me
I think I’ll ask Renoir to tea
For his flowers are as real as they are all the time
And the sunlight sets the furniture aglow
It’s a pleasant time as far as people go, how far do they go?
Well his roses are perfect and his words have no wings
I know what he can give me and I like to know these things
I met her at the funeral
She said I don’t know what he meant to me
I just know he affected me
An effect not unlike his art,
I believe
The service starts and we are in the know
He had so much to say but more to show, and ain’t that true of life?
So we weep for a person who lived at great cost
Yet we barely knew his powers till we sensed that we had lost
A friend and I in a museum room
She says, “Look at Mark Rothko’s side
Did you know about his suicide?
Some folks were born with a foot in the grave, but not me, of course”
And she smiles as if to say we’re in the know
Then she names a coffee place where we can go, uptown
Now the painting is desperate, but the crowds wash away
In a world of kind pedestrians who’ve seen enough today
September 25th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Thank you broadening my horizons in terms of knowledge of poetry/song over the past few days.
Dare I ask is there any particular reason? Or just an insight into the wonderful world of Nessa and what she likes?
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:44 pm
sorry I never answered you Ian. I got your comment just as I was hitting what Flower would call a "mucky patch". (she’s terrified of the In the Night Garden Episode where Igglepiggle falls into some mud. she often talks about "patch. no, patch." after the last few weeks, i can sympathise. anyway…)
anyway, i’ve just been doing a bit of mental file cabinet dusting lately and have enjoyed rediscovering some old stuff i had stashed in there. (there’s a few new bits and pieces too, like the blue men, who i absolutely love.) so i guess in a way, yes, just an insight into my filing cabinet. for me too. it’s always good to remind oneself what’s in there from time to time.
October 3rd, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Indeed it is. My prayers; God bless.
[And my niece has similar fears: the evil witch in Snow White worries her a lot. But she still wants me to read it to her!]