Perfect Poise

Loose Leaves – Reflections

 

PATENT LEATHER PUMPS

 

She walks

a marble floor,

with perfect

poise and polish.

 

 

 

Original Photo Credit: Unknown

Orange Hues

Loose Leaves – Art Inspired

 

 

Mark Rothko - Red, Orange, Orange on Red (1962)

Rothko skies

and Seagram views

– holiday as art.

 

 

 

A Lost Dragon

Loose Leaves – Looking Back / Art Inspired

 

Tani Buncho - Dragon in Clouds (British Museum)

Beside the Benten-dō on the island in the middle of Shinobazu Pond there used to be a painting of a dragon by Tani Bunchō (1763–1841). It wasn’t easy to find or particularly easy to see, and I suspect many people missed it, because it was situated on the ceiling over the fountain (手水舎) where visitors to the Benten-dō purify themselves, washing their hands and mouths, before making their donations, saying their prayers, and lighting incense. I think the painting may have been removed during the renovation work after the Benten-dō was damaged during the earthquake on 3 March 2011. It was a small wooden panel. I very much hope it has since been preserved somewhere safe. 

The painting illustrating this poem, also by Tani Bunchō, is similar. It is a hanging scroll that is part of the Japanese collection at the British Museum.

 

 

Arcing over water –

a dragon

by the Benten-dō.

 

 

 

Yoshida Hiroshi - Carp Tortoises (1940)

À La Recherche ...

Loose Leaves – Art Inspired

 

Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (1876)

This art inspired poem originally appeared on Bluesky in response to a #Paintku writing prompt: ‘Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette,’ a painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1876. Many thanks to Martina Matijević for this particular ‘madeleine’ which reminded me of Marcel Proust’s “À la recherche du temps perdu” – a magnificent novel that stands like a literary cathedral, and which took me twenty years to read (see here).

 

 

LES SOUVENIRS DE MARCEL

 

Every moment relived –

catching a cough

in a handkerchief.

 

 

 

See also, Leaf 151

Warm Ochre Tones

Loose Leaves – Looking Back

 

This is a somewhat hybrid, art inspired poem, written in response to a visual #dailyimageprompt – a painting, originally posted on Bluesky, by the artist: Mike, @po3try.bsky.social. Seeing its warm ochre tones evoked a kind of alliterative synaesthesia, reminding me of a certain singer whom I have always been quite fond of …

 

 

Mellowed by time –

her rust red hair

and velvet voice.

 

 

 

Belinda Carlisle

Image Credits: Mike (top) & Nik Spanos (bottom)

Ave Maris Stella

Loose Leaves – Art Inspired

 

Lita Albuquerque - Southern Cross from Stellar Axis Antarctica, Ross Ice Shelf (2006)

This poem has a double inspiration: Firstly, Lita Albuquerque’s “Southern Cross from Stellar Axis Antarctica, Ross Ice Shelf” (2006). And secondly, “Ave Maris Stella”, composed by Mine Kawakami, and performed at Santiago de Compostela, Spain (2025).

 

 

AVE MARIS STELLA

 

All points fixed

still yet moving

amid the infinite.

 

 

 

Mine Kawakami - Ave Maris Stella (2025)

 

This poem was originally written and posted on Bluesky

Lady Marmalade

Loose Leaves – Reflections

 

“Madame est malade …”

 

Savouring the

bitter tang of oranges

picked in Seville.

 

 

 

Leah Gardner - Marmalade (2021)

This poem was originally written and posted on Bluesky in response to a #vssdaily writing prompt: 'pick.'