Three Studies & a Canvas

Three Studies & a Canvas
our earth with its great
blotches
of ugly art
each of which able
to smother
flocks of chickadees

Study in oi
the boy has spent young manhood
destroying what was child
the turmoil has subsided
a man is ready for the void

Study in oo
i guess whatever it
had to do with you
is gone now, into
the blue inviting
hue shift of
diminished atmospheres
down here, then
there must be room
for something new

Study in ai/oh/yoo
i am alone
i do not move
and what you think you know
i want you to prove

John Harris Beck

Comments: 14

Terry Collett Apr 2, 2007, 2:46pm EDT

these are unusual poems and greatly welcome. it makes you think outside the comfy zone.

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frances c. Apr 2, 2007, 4:53pm EDT

Now for something completely different
ah the twist of lemon, digging it JOhn bigtime

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Charlene Sharp Apr 2, 2007, 5:57pm EDT

Your word's the boy has spent young manhood , destorying what was child. These words very much remind me of watching my son's make that struggle from childhood. Wanting to grow up to fast to, thankfully the men they have turned out to be today are good men.

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John Harris Beck Apr 2, 2007, 11:09pm EDT

Thanks, friends... I love "comfy zone" (why don't we yanks say that?), and yes, twist of lemon; forgot the honey. Charlene, I'm glad to hear your comment -- it's a funny thing what men go through growing up, I think it's lost its place of understanding and it's too much chance when a man feels right where he's standing.

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Tonia, who hugs trees G. Apr 2, 2007, 11:16pm EDT

I love your challenge in the last piece, John "and what you think you know - i want you to prove". I can't say why, but those lines stir in me a desire to break out of what I think I know and learn it all again with the newness of a blank mind.

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Atticus *. Apr 2, 2007, 11:18pm EDT

Da Da?

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John Harris Beck Apr 3, 2007, 9:23am EDT

Tonia, good thought, I think the little man in the ai-oh-yoo silo is asking for just that. I'm not sure, it all just came to me as word play with the vowels, but "it's not worth making an effort for other people unless they want to be real."

Atticus - that a flourish, or a challenge to a new "study in da/da"? It would be harder with a consonant in there.

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Edward Nudelman Apr 3, 2007, 4:05pm EDT

Really great, John. The reference point changes, but the poem flows from one study to the next. Well done.

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Lainie F. Apr 3, 2007, 7:46pm EDT

I suppose the flow is good--not my cup of tea, but I appreciate and receive your work with respect.

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Atticus *. Apr 3, 2007, 9:30pm EDT

John, It was really a statem-estion or a questment. For as you know, da da asks and then denies asking the very questions you pose and ends with a meadow full of sweet tiny flowers that stick your legs as you walk past. - No, no challenge (I would lose) I'm merely commenting on a stylistic similarity (though it may be a stretch).... Seriously though, I like the poem very much. I was really asking about the similarity in structure and form to Da Da ideas of anti-art as in your reference to the boy destroying what was child. Coming from the illogical place of the world of ugly art that could destroy chickadees, and creating something new (under the blue) then asking us to prove. Does my question make any sense? I see the point of the poem on the personal level, just asking if you are implying the larger more cultural one too.

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John Harris Beck Apr 3, 2007, 10:15pm EDT

Lainie, thanks -- no, this isn't often my mood either...

Atticus, I appreciate the further comment. I was thinking musically, and the great Dadaists only flitted by. Yes, the "canvas" has a bit of that kind of gesture, it all does, but not deeply thought through, only a rebellious mood put into words. And I like a whole lot of modern art. There's a somewhat puckish vein of pickle juice running through the whole thing. I'm glad it pleases; I don't think I could repeat it.

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Carolion Grailbear Apr 4, 2007, 5:36am EDT

ai oh yoo
noo fought, noo sikh
haidn sikh,
noo yoo.

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John Harris Beck Apr 4, 2007, 9:23am EDT

Thanks, Amy, one of the joys - you see something I hadn't. Doesn't reach a good place yet, but a stronger place of identity.
And another joy - carolion's winged dance over the scene!

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Three Studies & a Canvas

Comments: 14

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