Goliath's Widow

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Goliath's Widow

​"Goliath's Widow" - acrylic on cradled wood panel, 16 x 20 x .75.  Ready to hang.  Available here and at Artfinder.

Goliath is struck by the stone.
The stone turns into a bird.
The bird sings in her window.
Time is absurd.  It flows backward.
It is married to the word.

This is the window of the giant's eyes.
This is the bird singing alone.
This is the river of forgetting.
This is the chosen stone.
This is Goliath's widow.

Struck by the stone he leaps
into the future. He lies
a monolith, a rune, light
​from a distant nova.  Not even a bone
​remembers begetting him ever.

The song is a monotone.
She is the word and the window.
She is the stone and the bird.
She is the bed of the river.

All Time is Past Time​ by Ruth Stone

A silver lining in a week of cloistering inside - a pile of books to explore.  Seven at once?  Why not.  And within the stack a book of poetry by Ruth Stone.  A poet I knew nothing of, and then discovered she went to the same university as my own dad.  A woman who won the National Book Award at the age of 87, and who believed women came into their creative power at an advanced age.  Oh - what an inspiration for me! And for each of you dear readers who may sometimes wonder how long you can keep doing that thing you love.  Perhaps longer than you ever imagined. 

In this video, Stone (nearly blind at the age of 93-94), recites her own work  from memory.  

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About the art:  this one was a journey, heavily influenced by the odd light of a sun straining through smoke-choked skies, painting in rooms with eerie glows and haze.  Acrylic on wood panel which had been pre-gesso'd to an ultra smooth finish.  The requisite 80 million layers are included in this piece.