Joyce Wilson
The Glider and Leroy
The son, Leroy, two years older than me,
was sitting on the glider, using both
his feet to rock it on its fragile frame.
I sat beside him on the cushioned couch,
grabbed both his hands and put my palms against
his palms, pushing, pressing, not with fists
but flat hands, slapping, making rhythmic sounds.
We matched our strength, at play, together on
this sofa that belonged outside, was made
to seat the elderly or the betrothed,
that creaked each time it swayed fore and aft.
Our youthful movements caused its joints to whine.
Within a week, Leroy's family was gone.
Curtains, cars, furniture had vanished.
Did they take the rusted glider with them,
on which, to each other, we were trusted?
Two Languages
That night at dinner, my parents asked about
my day. I reported I had said good-bye
to the boy who lived next door, just up the hill.
I said Lee Roy, the way we talked in school.
My father raised his eyebrows in reply,
"In French, it is le roi, which means 'the king.'"
I wondered at the title, name, and need
for two languages to frame our speech.
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| Brittany Vogel is an award-winning, New Jersey-based painter known for her bold color and beautifully expressive line. Her Powerful Women series has struck a chord well beyond the gallery walls, earning inclusion in multiple exhibitions including a Monmouth Museum x Smithsonian Exhibition and coverage in numerous press outlets, including Yahoo! News and feature spreads in TapInto and 07030 Magazine.
Vogel's work lives in public spaces as much as private collections. She created a 12-foot interactive mural, Suffragists Marching, in the Columbus Circle subway station, and has delivered artist talks at the Bruce Museum and the Hoboken Historical Museum. Her achievements include the competitive Merit Scholarship from the Art Students League of New York and features in three consecutive Monmouth Museum Annual Juried Exhibitions. She has mounted solo shows of both her Powerful Women and Order vs. Chaos series in New York City and New Jersey.
Whether she's covering a subway wall or a canvas, Vogel's aim is the same: command attention from across the room, then reward a closer look with a rich, layered story worth lingering over.
Brittany continues to paint, exhibit, and expand the Powerful Women series from her studio in Hoboken, New Jersey, adding new women and new stories to the collection.
For additional information, please visit www.BrittanyVogelArt.com.
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