the rhymes of the flowers

 

Tiger, Corita Kent, 1965, Serigraph, 23"h x 35"w

Dear Violets Are Blue,

Yesterday, I skated past you, on the walk, over and over.  Ka-tunk, ka-tunk, when the wheels passed over the seams in the concrete.  Each time I could catch that faint scent; and of course, I saw you, too; just a few of you, maybe a dozen blooms?  But the scent see, that is maybe the thing.  Like night, like water, but faintly sweet, medicinal.   Like the smell of lightning.  Yes, and the color, well, it is one of the special purples of flowers- the tiniest hairs making a dense reflective nap like velvet. 

A project that would be fine is to collect these purples when I see them.  To match each one with a bit of paint on a square of paper; yes that would be a fine project.  A kind of world tour of botanical violet hues.

Watermelon, Corita Kent, 1965, Serigraph, 18"h x 24"w

Heart Broke

 

 

Untitled (Gossip), Jim Dine, 1970-71

collage, mixed media, 60" x 40"



Dear Broken Hearted,

This is your day, actually, because although we have promoted this façade of celebrating love between two people, we must acknowledge the shadow side, the obverse, the un-love between two people.  In fact, I'd wager that Valentine's Day, on the individual level, is focused much more on the un-love, the end of love, and the love that never was, than whatever the other kind is.  Consider one of the messages in evidence:  Be mine.  This is really an entreaty, a statement of longing.

Still, you won't find me giving up on telling people that I love them; so this pair of songs for today is dedicated to the ones feeling the un-love, and I send it SWAK.

Song One.

Song Two.

Bonus Track.