I happened to be thinking of the innocence of trees
and then a grid came into my mind. . . .
~ Agnes Martin
The hand laid down
proves what the eye fools:
there are no straight lines
in nature. Step nearer
and you can see how
every graphite welt
strains at its boundaries,
meanders its delicate hold
till it jumps off the grid
into the space we cannot
navigate. Go closer in,
then imagine what we must
screen from view, why
absence insinuates itself
even in the feint of being
invisible. Wide bands across
our field of vision confine
nothing more empty, layer in
the weave of the canvas
the bare scaffold in pencil,
axes but a veiled alignment
of vertical with landscape.
© 2012 Maureen E. Doallas
____________________________
Last week, my friend Deborah Barlow reposted her commentary about the painter Agnes Martin (1912-2004) and Martin's quote that serves as the inspiration for my poem. Deborah's post includes an image of Martin's The Tree. (Audio post on The Tree at MoMA.)
I've spent quite a bit of time sitting with Martin's work at Dia:Beacon. (Dia:Beacon's exhibitions of Martin's work are listed here.) Like Mark Rothko, she merits all the time and attention you can give her. Her writings do, too.
"Agnes Martin: Before the Grid" is on view through June 17 at The Harwood Museum of Art, Taos, New Mexico. The museum has an Agnes Martin Gallery.
This month, the theme at Every Day Poems, the five-day-a-week poetry newsletter from T.S. Poetry Press, is "trees".
Posts
17 comments:
I totally agree with you about Agnes Martin....something hypnotic about her work (and Rothko, too, who I thought of immediately!).
I enjoyed this poem.
Beautiful commentary on trees. I love the "there are no straight lines in nature" and wonder why we work so hard to make them straight.
This poem made my heart sigh with relief, joy, knowing.
to experience such beauty in your words is a gift.
Thank you.
Maureen, lush, deep and a gorgeous thing. Thank you for pulling this into existence.
Stunning poem - love Martin's work; you've captured the purity of her work perfectly. Lovely.
A beautiful piece of work that reflects the gentle and magnificent peace of trees...bkm
I'm so pleased this poem found its mark. Thank you all for such lovely comments. Martin's paintings continue to keep a hold on me.
I'm fascinated by this grid idea--hers and yours!
fascinating...esp. loved..
til it jumps off the grid
into the space we cannot
navigate...
a really cool piece...the no stright lines in nature stuck out to me...so gentle truth of trees in this...smiles...
'no straight lines...' says so much. very good piece.
always enjoy your writing ...
Feint. I like how you used it, we don't hear it much any more.
Excellent read. Many exceptional lines, both in the way the words work together, in the natural rhythm they make together and of course in their reflective qualities. Really enjoyed. thanks
This poem touches on an ancient theme, and gets to the heart of the way we insinuate ourselves upon the world. Rothko, one of my very favorite painters, seems more at one with nature than any of his contemporaries. Your poem seems to tap into a part of his deep mystery.
Although it is not a commentary on writing, the lines on ...how every graphite welt strains.... Rang true with how thought attaches itself to language.
'Go closer in,
then imagine what we must
screen from view, why
absence insinuates itself
even in the feint of being
invisible'
How true (and lovely words ecpressed).
Anna :o]
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