I never thought of
The ocean as tapestry
A blanket of moving surf
Until you mentioned
My blue-green fibers
Pattern and strong weave
But I’d always known waves
Were the key, a curve
To ride upon. That somehow
I’d be a sailor. And you,
All of you, would be
My seafaring companions
© Amanda Reilly Sayer, 2021
Will transformation. Oh be inspired for the flame
in which a Thing disappears and bursts into something
else;
the spirit of re-creation which masters this earthly form
loves most the pivoting point where you are no longer
yourself.
Rainer Maria Rilke (Sonnets To Orpheus)
I can see Mars from my kitchen window Which sounds like it could be a metaphor, and probably is Except, I mean I can literally see Mars That red skinned beacon Out there. The speck that reminds me how small I am And also of how impossible things might be known First from a great distance. Then close up. But how do we get there from here? That is the question That keeps me up at night And while I’m awake, even half-asleep I figure, I might as well keep looking Because we never get there by not looking Over and out there, but also In here. And if we don’t want to go Someplace we’ve never been It might be important to know why not To understand whether we are afraid of green men Remnants of a cartoon we once saw Or something else Isn’t it funny how we give meaning to color Red states, blue states, people and planets As if we are still children learning to sort a giant crayon box Trying to make something so big Fit into our small hands We know so little for certain except that The universe is bigger than any one of us And we are hurtling through space at a speed we can’t match Mightn't it be prudent then To keep our options open To keep our hearts opener still To open up the too small box and smash the cardboard with our grown up feet? Maybe then, we’d be able to see What the container has keep from our view That we’ve made a very poor bargain for certainty And also. Maybe Mars With the friendly green "men" Is closer than we think © Amanda Reilly Sayer, 2020
When the tide rises Speckled stones submerged beneath A high path appears © Amanda Reilly Sayer 2020
When night falls too fast Find the moonlight inside you Then watch the sun rise ©️Amanda Reilly Sayer, 2020
Dancing on the edge
Ready for that taut line pull
Maintaining balance
©️Amanda Reilly Sayer
Sometimes the notes
Play, almost
Without effort, other times
Fingers sore from repetition
Dissonance rules
With gnashing teeth
The Buddha said (maybe)
You must become empty, before
Being filled
And that is harder than it sounds
In this time when, doing more
Means doing well
But what if being well
Means simply being?
Allowing, the melody to emerge
©Amanda Reilly Sayer, 2019
*Note: I shared this particular painting with this poem because it was a painting that evolved easily, which isn’t exactly typical of my experience. As a painter (and writer), I am guilty of teeth gnashing effort and that is usually evident in the work, at least to me. To have a goal that is about not trying seems both counterintuitive and impossible, but I know this is a goal worth allowing, if not pursuing.
What say you?
The sky is on fire
She thought, toes curled and ready
Feet firmly planted
© Amanda Reilly Sayer
Near dusk on the Cape
Magical hours cast their spell
Peaceful radiance
© Amanda Reilly Sayer
Grief is natural when
©️ Amanda Reilly Sayer
Straddling past and present
Trying to let go
Painting Poetry in Motion 