Words and Pieces

Leggings by Beth Achen bach Leggings stretch, clinging to the skin. A pattern inches upward, the spandex succombs. Hips push outward forcing some breathing room. The waistband rides the curve, parks near the navel base. Skinny legged, magically expanding, human woman outerwear! Buy the thin facade! Charge now... pay later.

I generally do not make New Year's resolutions.  I look at it like this, I am already hard on myself 365 days a year!   I can choose to diet, save money, make art or spend more time  with people I love on any day or month I choose.  That said, I am not without a tradition friends.  What I like to do is write  a poem, usually, about looking forward with  a bit of hope to the new calendar year.  For 2017   I came up with a  blog post that expressed the sentiment I stated  above, which is that you don't only have the beginning of the calendar year  to make changes. You have the power, the ruby slippers, to make fabulousness  happen all the year long! That's 12 months, 365 days to make a change! So approaching 2018 at the end of this December I was thinking a lot about  what I might write but honestly,  I wasn't feeling much inspiration at all.  Not one bit! Quite frankly,  it had been quite a while since  I had written a poem, period. I had not even managed

It's been overwhelming for me this past year dealing with chronic pain, turning 50, my favorite Uncle passing away, friends diagnosed with cancer, not seeing my family much, money problems and well....the crazy state of our country and world!!! LIfe my friends!  I mean, yes, I  know, in the scheme of world problems mine are not so awful.  It doesn't take away the fact that it's been a struggle for me.  So I made a pretty big decision to start learning more so I can practice Judaism. I've pretty much been a secular Jew my whole life.  We would go to my Grandparent's house when I was young to celebrate the Jewish Holidays but other than that I did not grow up knowing a lot about Judaism or having any kind of traditions instilled in me.  As a young adult I bought a Menorah and would light Hanukkah candles and that was it!  I think it was a way to feel connected to my grandparents who had both since passed away.  The thought has always been in the recess of my mind

Observation of a couple on the train yesterday morning.  They caught my eye because of the way the woman was leaning into the man as they sat next to one another.  You know that lean when you are really comfortable with someone, be it a friend or a lover, that space sharing closeness that you enjoy without realizing it?!  One of the poles on the train that runs from the floor to the ceiling separated their legs but she was still able to lean against him in the seat as they passed a short purple Pringle’s can back and forth.  The two of them were enjoying the hell out of those chips as one would reach into the small cylinder, take out a short stack, and then hand it back to the other!  I thought it was sweet and then I started to think to myself "these people totally look stoned!"  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not judging here!  I'm just relaying an observation that I caught with my eyes because it was way different than the average morning commute with everyon

Recently my friend Robert Langdon invited me to participate in a new exhibit at his gallery called "Art & Words: An Exhibition of Art & Poetry Inspiring One Another" .   This new show at Emerge Gallery & Art Space  is a collaboration between artists and poets.  Poets picked from artworks and artists chose poems that inspired them to create new works.  Robert sent me a pdf of the artworks that were available and when I saw the image of Maxine Davidowitz's  monotype and mixed media artwork titled " Darkness Rising I" the first line came right to me!  I still looked over the other art but I really was drawn to what seems to be these dark folds in Maxine's artwork.  I kind of imagine there could be someone or something hiding in there.  So I wrote my piece and called it "Delicate Parts". (see below) Emerge Gallery & Art Space is located at  228A Main Street, Saugerties, NY  (845) 247-7515.   The exhibit is open until May 29, 2017.