Thursday, September 29, 2011

Painting in the Dreamtime



I dream of painting: 

dipping the brush in colour and watching it streak across canvas.  

An ochre red undulating line:  

the earth, singing.  

Above the ochre line I would splash ultramarine,

 a vivid intense blue, a pale reflection of our southern sky.

The blue hovers over the land, blessing it with story and spirits.



I would add a dirty olive for a tree, thirsty always,

with leathery leaves to save the secret water:

leaves trailing down and rattling in the breeze.



I would paint this breeze to soften the air and

to lift the ochre dust

so waves of red would lap the shores of roots and Spinifex.



An angled kite of brilliant white – of cockatoo –

measuring my ultramarine

would focus the sky.



And I would frame the whole with sound:  

the wind,

the swift beat of wing,

the crack of leaf against trunk

and the songs of the ancestors filling the dreamtime.


x

15 comments:

Martin said...

Beautiful imagery here, Isabel. I particularly like "An angled kite of brilliant white – of cockatoo"

Rallentanda said...

Oh, I think someone is homesick!
Lovely poem Isabel. You have captured that stillness .

Jinksy said...

You make me want to rush to my virtual paint box! A beautiful picture you created.

jabblog said...

Rallentanda beat me to it - it does sound like homesickness. You have created a lovely image.

Dave King said...

I would paint this breeze to soften the air and

to lift the ochre dust

so waves of red would lap the shores of roots and Spinifex.

lucychili said...

this feels real, dusty and thirsty. =)

gatheringwonder said...

marvelous poem - especially that second stanza!

indiwriter said...

Beautiful splash of colors! Very well written. I enjoyed this trip.

Ravenblack said...

Nice imagery and color. A painting made with words. :)

Laura Maria said...

Beautiful! I especially loved the line, 'I would paint this breeze to soften the air'

Liz Rice-Sosne said...

Isabel I do believe that you may have been the first person whose blog I read as an introduction to this wonderful community of poets. I just fell across you. And several things struck me. Of course these things may not be correct, but they are my first impressions. You have a true love of nature. You adore cats (your own and strays). You reside in Egypt ... a place that I visited in 1991 and adored. And this was good because to this day, I always find inspiration within your words. Today's poem is very special to me, for it may just send me back into my painting.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Oh I so loved this poem, such a rich repast of beautiful images.......I love the title Painting in the Dreamtime.......just a lovely read.

Anonymous said...

And you painted all upon my mind.

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

Beautiful poem ... and any Aussie would recognise the landscape of your painting.

Richarde M. Talbot said...

Not only have you created beautiful "pictures", but I particularly like the sound elements in the poem with splashes of alliteration and consonance, as well as the way you concluded with sound. Thank you!