Ruth Hoberman
Toward a Poetics of Atrial Fibrillation
"Listen to your heart lub-dub," the bearded professor
said, who taught poetry and published his own
with reputable presses. "Iambic equals heart-beat, so
blank verse throbs as naturally as your pulse." But dear
Marianne Moore, like the heartless French, counted
syllables instead of feet. Beats bludgeon,
she said: bullies with batons. A democrat among
the phonemes, she gave each little sound
its due, then broke her lines so syllables perched
singly on their twigs and sang. Like the wrens
in my heart fluttering—skilled in waver, wend
and shiver, not march or thud; bards of lurch
and giggle. Listen, please: my heart counts too.
Aging, intractable, with its tremolo coo.
Eclipse
He was okay then. The sun tossed tiny
white crescents on the porch, and we peered
through a pinhole as the moon idled
across the sky inside a shoebox. He was
okay still; whatever god does such things
hadn’t done them yet: no furies,
thunderbolts, fog, or flies to fling
a random boy mad. He was fourteen,
gawky but unbroken, brilliant, willing—
but apparently light cares nothing about us, roars
every which way, glares and shimmies through
shoeboxes, ricochets in skulls—stores
images, flickers, replays. Grown now, pulled
taut inside, he won’t go near the huge
orange globe—the sun I think—at the museum
he asked to visit. No, he says, face furrowed
and wild-eyed as Medusa’s. Medusa, whose eyes
caught in the gleam of Perseus’ shield. Mirrored
then slain by what she saw inside.
The two of them stone. And all of us terrified.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
| Anna Lee Hafer is a studio artist based in the Philadelphia area whose work is heavily influenced by such famous surrealist painters as René Magritte, Salvador Dali, and Pablo Picasso, all of whom strove to build their own realities through small glimpses into a particularly confusing, but utterly unique worldview that dictates its own specific set of instructions. With references to the laws and physics of Alice's Wonderland, the artist challenges the audience's inherent understanding of perspective, reality, and universal order.
In her work, Hafer pours and layers paint to create dimension and texture, mixing different styles and colors onto each other until they produce a 3D effect. Through marker and pencil that create shadow, she further enhances these forms and separates them from the background. Heavier layers and thicker brushstrokes in the foreground of her work push the painting toward the viewer, whereas the thinner layers and small brushstrokes in the background, elongate the space and push away from the viewer. By juxtaposing interior and exterior elements, Hafer makes the audience question whether they are looking at something inside or outside.
For additional information, please visit www.hafer.work.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
