FROM OUR SHADOWS

W.S. Merwin, 1927-2019, American

from  Garden Time, 2016 

 

There are so many words for sadness
and for joy so few

maybe none
that can tell
the sound of that secret spring
welling up from before words
though when its voice rises
within us

we want to be able to tell
someone about it

 

 

The Moon and the Little Bird, 2018, acrylic, charcoal, gelatin printing, collagraph printing, relief printing, decorative papers, hand-stitching, liquid gold leaf on paper.

Delita Martin, American born 1972. 2020 photo from the website of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC

 

if they will stay to hear
talk about
what is beyond words

sadness can rise in us
in the midst of happiness

 

 

Other Voices, Study #1, 1995; gouache and charcoal on cardboard. 

Jamie Wyeth, American born 1946. The Phyllis and Jamie Wyeth Collection loan to the Brandywine River Museum in 2024

 

and joy can take us by surprise
in the midst of great sadness

 

 

Kleberg Daydreaming, 2016, mixed media on paper

Jamie Wyeth, American born 1946. Exhibited at the Somerville Manning Gallery, Greenville, DE in 2019

 

both of them know us
from before we were here
but if we speak to them

only sadness lingers
to hear us out

joy disappears
to wait for us it may be
where we least expect it.